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The Council

The walk to the room in which the council sat in a rather heated discussion (due to Navariësé's presence, no doubt) was long but uneventful. They passed the two rows of guards in winged armour and with spears many times larger than a man and larger than even Yalveni and entered into the grandiose palace. They snaked through the warren of passageways, leading themselves down into the dark and low chambers. A few minutes later, and they entered into the council room. They entered in time to hear Navariësé utter the following:

"If not, use them on the walls that we can't defend but are too dangerous to allow the horde to use and before covering the wall in oil. It would slow them down for a bit."

"Holing up in the palace seems inevitable," Gailen mused, surprised that he'd been called upon "If you arm everyone, and set up barricades, you might be able to play hedgehog until the Legion arrives."

Yalveni put a hand to his brow. Whatever was said was undoubtedly stupid, "Yes?"

The Council

The general nodded. "A most efficient tactic, that would be. Time is victory in this battle, I presume. And playing for time is the best way to win the battle. It is, in fact, the only way, unless the orks were all to suddenly fall dead."

The governor smiled at Yalveni, pleased that he had shown the council some respect. "Sit down, sir. Wherever you wish. You have been invited to the council. Eändíré has asked for you and as he has asked for you, so have I."

Ronin took a seat in the council room.

"Does the palace possess any caterpaults?" Navariësé asked the council. "If not and if the shield falls, would your mages be able to use their magic against the dragons if they turn up before our allies?" She asked the head of the magical guild.

"I don't know how I'll be of help," Yalveni said only a little sheepishly, "I'm not the most strategic of people." Which was very true. Yalveni charged into battle expecting to die; something else he couldn't seem to do.

"No, sadly, we don't happen to have any catapults on the Palace, nor the Inner Walls. All of the catapults were on the Outer Walls. And, even if we did have any, we'd have to use men to staff them, men that could be used to defend the walls." the general replied. He turned to Yalveni. "Don't worry. Your fellow essence elf appears to be in the same boat."

"Dragons? No... I'm afraid our magic is not of an offensive enough nature to demand that we learn to combat such threats. Our combined efforts could fell perhaps three dragons, depending on how many of them there are, but no more." Boros replied.

At that moment, another arrival entered into the room. It was Siöré, his blond hair darkened by the mood that hung over the city. His face bore the scars of the recent battle and one of his cheeks was burned black by some fire that had damaged him. Blood dripped from his nose and onto his tattered, stained chest piece. He sat down stiffly at the nearest seat, two down from Navariësé and three down from Eändíré.

"I apologise for my rather late arrival. It would appear that no guard was sent to bring me." the elf announced to the council. "I assumed , being in command of some of the last remaining defenders, that I would be accepted here, to help think up a plan on how to best defend the city."

"I have never claimed to be an expert." Navariësé told the general and looked at Siöré after he entered the room. "I saw his men take down the black dragons with mere arrows. If there are enough of them left, we could use their skill with the bow to defend the city from the dragons or try to buy us time." She suggested to the council.

"Enough of us left?" Siöré gave a harsh and cold laugh, unnatural, as he was usually jolly and cheerful. "Nearly all of my kinsmen lie dead, desecrated by the orks. There are barely enough of us to take on a squad of orks, let alone an army of dragons."

"I am sorry for your losses." Navariësé said to Siöré in a comforting tone. "Prehaps we could position his men at the entrance of the palace in case the orks break down the doors. It wouldn't help us that much but it could buy us the time we will require if our allies have yet to reach us by the time that happens." She told suggested to the council.

"This isn't about killing dragons or orks, Navariësé," Yalveni said restraining the insult that binded all others, "This is about surviving. We'll never survive trying to provoke them. We hold up the doors and only attack when there is no other choice. When the doors break down, we should focus on getting something else in there place. Not killing orks. "

"With all due respect, madam, you know nothing of tactics. There is no point having perfectly good soldiers stationed away from the battle. Everyone who can fight should be on the walls until they are lost. Only then should anyone be relocated to defend the palace." the general responded to Navariësé. "I am sure Siöré will know where to position his own men best." he gave a slightly friendly nod in Siöré's direction. He knew the loss that Siöré felt. He had known it many times before.

"I am aware of that but we may have no choice but to ensure that we have some form of defence if they are are broken down by the horde." Navariësé told Yalveni.

Navariësé looked at the general. "I will be the first to admit that as i'm only experienced in dealing with small to medium ork raiding band." She said to him. Navariësé knew of the loss Siöré felt but knew he would have little to no time mourning his brothers and sisters in arms.

"Depending on how large a shield we can create..." Eändíré began, with a slight gesture towards Boros. "... we could cover the gate and the walls as well. If that were the case, it would be a draining and exhausting but useful matter of imbuing it with some form of offensive measure, be it electricity or fire. This could buy us hours, as I think it is prudent to assume that the orks will have only a small number of shamans with them."

"It's better then leaving them as they are." Navariësé commented. "But we need to come up with a plan if the palace is breached. Are there any entrances to the sewers nearby and how far do they reach?" She asked the council.

"You were already told earlier that all entrances into the sewers or the underground tunnels have been blocked. If the palace is breached, it is all over, unless the breach happens to coincide with the arrival of the legion, in which case, they will be cutting it mightily close." Aradir stated.

"Stop," Yalveni said having enough of this, "Stop trying to coordinate anything about a place that you don't understand. Stop trying to tell generals how to lead their armies. Stop trying to plan escapes. If we don't stop the orks here, they'll slaughter us as soon as we go out there." Yalveni said, "There's ocean and there's orks. I don't feel like drowning in either."

"Excuse me for trying to grab a bit of hope for the city." Navariësé told Yalveni. She looked at the general and asked "Where will you want me?"

"Out of my way." the general replied curtly.

"Or prehaps you should place me somewhere, where i will be of help." Navariësé replied.

"Ork food, then, if you would prefer."

"Hope the orks rip off your balls." Navariësé muttered in her native lanuage. "I shall aid the defence on the walls unless Eandire believes my skills are required elsewhere." She informed the council.

"You shall do only what a member of the army or the guard tells you to do. When you are on the wall, you answer to me." the general told her. "Do you understand?"

Navariësé stood up and said "I understand", to the general. "But i will require some arrows but it will be best if i stick to using my blades." She informed the general.