“It is often tempting to try solving everything at once, but more often than not, dealing with problems one at a time is the better way.” - Old folk saying.

After three days of further negotiation and talks with what remained of the Antemeian council – along with some of the most promising of their next generation – an agreement was finally reached between Antemeia and Ptolodecca.

Antemeia was left crippled after the war, and they knew it. They were down to half their population – half of the missing ones had escaped to Ptolodecca, while the rest had been late to evacuate and were put to the sword by the Vitalicans – and less than one-tenth of the military force they possessed in their best days. It was far from enough to defend themselves, much less to continue existing as an independent nation, not in a place with hostile neighbors eyeing them like a fat piece of meat.

While Ptolodecca to the south mostly stayed out from interfering on Antemeian matters – other than the one time when the Bone Lord supported Aideen and the other original Vitalicans in reclaiming their homeland centuries ago – out of old sentiments the Bone Lord had for the founder of Antemeia, neither of their other neighbors were so nice.

It was obvious that there was not just bad blood, but outright hatred against Vitalica – it still disgusted Aideen to this day to call that place with the name of the nation her family had founded – to their east. The war that just ended already proved that the two nations were like oil and water, that they would not tolerate each other’s existence for long.

Meanwhile, Aideen was also relatively certain that news about the Antemeian conflict had already reached Lucea in Sabaya by then. The Elmaiya Empire didn’t have the best relationship with Antemeia, where at best they were apathetic to one another. If Lucea had already heard of the news, then chances were that the only reason Elmaiya hadn’t already sent troops to subjugate the weakened Antemeians was because they were waiting to see what the Lichdom would do first.

Which, incidentally came to the results of the meeting Aideen and the rest of the Ptolodeccan commanders had with the Antemeian elders.

The elders were surprisingly wise enough to see the writing on the wall, that Antemeia – as a nation – was on its last days, no matter what they did. As such, they opted for a course that would spare their people and by extension, themselves as well, as much hardship as possible. It was a course of action that Aideen couldn’t help but think was clever, yet also extremely unlikely for most people to even think of.

Instead of bowing down to the Lichdom on the spot, a course of action that might have looked little different than just another flavor of subjugation to the Antemeian people, they suggested that the Lichdom take Antemeia in as a protectorate of theirs for the time being. Then, after a couple generations have passed, the younger generation being born would have assimilated to the Lichdom’s way of life, and would no longer be resistant to a more thorough integration.

It was a surprisingly long-sighted suggestion, one that most of the elders – save for one dwarven elder – would live long enough to see the results of. Perhaps it was that most of them realized the mistake they made in their pride, which made them reject outside help and try to stand against the crusaders on their own, a mistake that cost the lives of far too many of their own.

Either way, once the agreement was signed with the old Antemeian First Elder signing the document for their side – Aideen had healed her would-be fatal injuries after she had finished healing the Lichdom’s injured – the deal was pretty much set in stone. The third day of negotiation was mostly centered around the Vitalican captives, or to be specific, their treatment.

Quite naturally, many of the Antemeians held strong hostility against the captives, especially those who had lost family, friends, or loved ones in their hands. Some had even clamored to execute all the captives en masse at first, before Aideen and Mimia dissuaded them from such a radical course of action. After the emotions calmed down, they had a more fruitful discussion about the fate of the captives.

In the end, the Antemeians agreed to keep most of the captive Vitalican soldiers alive, as long as they haven’t actually killed an Antemeian civilian before. Deaths in battle were something they wouldn’t hold a grudge over, but people who slaughtered civilians would not be forgiven. It was a viewpoint Aideen couldn’t help but to agree with.

After some quick questioning – helped by Mimia who being a powerful Soulweaver could easily detect lies – most of the captives were cleared of such wrongdoings, other than a few hundred who had indeed participated in the massacres or even worse. Some of them had even pillaged and raped the villagers prior to slaughtering them.

Apparently most of the butchery was done by the fanatics, most of which – save the few captives taken alive – fought to the death already.

As for the fate of those found guilty, Aideen and Mimia decided to leave it to the Antemeians to exact their payback however they felt like doing it. It was a problem they’d be all too happy to wash their hands off from. Even though Aideen had some personal grudges against the current Vitalica, her grudges were against their ancestors, mostly.

When the Lichdom army left Gor-Seinnon – not all of them, as Veria had stayed behind with the skeleton horde to defend Antemeia just in case it was needed – to march back to their homeland another three days after the negotiations were done, they saw what the Antemeians had done to exact their revenge on the Vitalican crusaders.

All around the city walls of Gor-Seinnon, wooden stakes were erected, each of which had a naked body impaled through from ass to mouth set on top of them. The victims were naturally the crusaders who had been found guilty of atrocities and slaughter of civilians. They had been impaled alive then left to die slowly of exposure.

Some of the bodies still twitched with life even as the Lichdom army marched by them.