Dom departed from the Palace at first light, wearing his black armour and his Zhan Lu Blade by his side. Other clothes and equipment had been packed for him, including his Slaying Spear, which he was taking with him in case it was needed at the upcoming Battle. He was escorted by his Guards to the ship of Eudoxus who had seemingly become Dom's personal Captain in the last few days as his normal ships of the Galatea, Bellona or even the Sibylla, were all currently on a different mission.
It would only take a couple of hours to reach Eruthros from Riverside, however he set off early as he had things he wanted to do there before he logged out. He wanted to inspect the Fortress Town itself, as well as get a good understanding of the scout reports, if he could find out who was attacking or at least the Military Units, he could do some offline research. He also wanted to travel to the Red Hare Valley with his Generals, as this was growing to become a key travel route on their most Western Border.
Sun Shangxiang and Meritamen had both been waiting for him for once, seemingly reluctant for him to leave for Eruthros, as he would most likely not see them both again for several days. It was also the first Battle for the Lazarus Kingdom as an actual Kingdom, rather than Riverside and it's sub cities. Dom had expected that Sun Shangxiang would argue that she should to join the Battle herself, but she had been surprisingly understanding and explained that she would be needed to oversee the rest of the forces as his Wife in his absence. Meritamen had enough of her own plans that would keep her busy, mainly working with the Civilian Heroes to incorporate all of the new people and work on plans to increase the population of Riverside in a safe but quick way.
The travel through Riverside had been uneventful, but it was clear that the Civilians were preparing themselves for some busy days to come, especially those who worked in construction. Meritamen had said her brother had been quite selective with those that he had brought with him as a gift, even if a lot of them were supposedly difficult to integrate. They were mainly from a construction background or people that worked the land, even the slaves were similar. Her brother had said the slaves would be good to keep them well cooled or bathe them, but after she had inspected them, she could tell her brother may have ignored her father or other siblings instructions and actually given them useful people.
The Dock of Riverside was full when he arrived, with ships busily loading supplies to head to the west. Enough supplies were needed for at least seven days for nearly ten thousand warriors, mounts and support staff. More could be sent throughout, especially if the Battle turned in to a Siege Defence, but Xun Yu and Xun You had been preparing for the worst.
He laughed to himself as he boarded the Eudoxus, pushing the thought of Battle out of his mind. He instead thought of the fun that Andrew was going to be having in Noctus with the other Players who had joined the Lazarus Kingdom. They had agreed that all of the Players would be given a basic rank within the more flexible units that were at Noctus. Each low ranking member of their guild would be given the rank of Optio and have a unit of Warriors under them, mainly Hoplite or Legionaries. Whilst a couple of the more senior members would be given the rank of Centurion in Tomyris' wider forces, commanding some of the Optio's themselves. Tomyris had been told to use these Players as her forward forces and had been given additional personal guards as she was the most exposed to internal betrayal now. She had also been given some former Wu Swordsmen who had been retrained as Legionaries, these had been part of Meritamen and the Mayor of Jia, Lady Xu's, special subterfuge forces. Their role would be to infiltrate the new Players unit's and spy on them for the Lazarus Kingdom to confirm their loyalty.
The Players who weren't warriors had been placed in low level parts of Government, where they could impact their areas but a betrayal wouldn't pull everything down. Some original Civilians had also gone through some of the Subterfuge training and had been placed within the same departments. Dom hoped that not only would they be loyal, but they would bring the modern skills to the game's Kingdom and help it grow. The two that worried Dom the most were the Blacksmiths, but Andrew and Kai were confident in their loyalty. He was only worried about them as they were now apprenticing to Ou Yezi who was one of Dom's most important hidden gems. Ou Yezi already had enough powerful Civilians around him and could handle himself if needs be. The Player who had joined them most recently was Astrid and she was excited to be joining the Sea Fleet with one of the new Trireme from the Battle of Mycale, Kai seemed to trust her and whilst she could cause chaos, Dom doubted she would have a reason to.
Eudoxus had soon got them on to the Calm River, space being made for the powerful Trireme with the busy morning traffic that was surrounding the Dock. Dom watched as two Mengchong that were acting as River Police held back the small fishing boats that were intending to continue their morning haul in the Calm River that was full of fresh fish as usual. In the distance, ships travelling west from Tranquillity were preparing themselves to dock and unload food, or take on more before moving to Eruthros themselves.
Dom was surprised by the amount of action on the southern shore of the Calm River. Historically south of Riverside had been empty of much, except for a small number of houses and farms that had began sprouting after they had built a bridge that was just tall enough for the Quinquereme to pass beneath. Dom didn't worry about any issues with the future though, as Sostratus was already commencing plans to build four huge bridges that had mechanisms to open and close, across the Calm River. One just before the the mouth of the Calm River at Serenity, the others at Tranquillity, Riverside and just before Eruthros, connecting the former location of the Gluttonous Chief's Village south of the Calm River Mountain to the southern shore.
The City of Plataea could be seen in the distance with it's population of over four thousand people clearly trying to expand the City with new farms and houses. Nicomedes had placed himself as the temporary Mayor and whilst he had already departed for Eruthros, the once Spartan Regent had already passed clear instructions to the City on their expansion plans. Ptolemy had also declared that Plataea would make the most sense as the temporary capital of the south west region and had agreed with Nicomedes plans to expand the City of Plataea, especially with clearing large parts of the forest for materials for new houses.
It wasn't long before they reached Eruthros, the very new Town having been placed in the location of the former Fort that had been their most western point. The Fort Walls were still high and was being used as a Command Centre for the Town, whilst the Town Centre itself was slightly more Eastwards and away from the giant wooden wall that had almost finished construction, having been started weeks ago by the Legionaries at the Fort.
The Wall was around six metres high, from the Calm River where the Fort itself was placed, to the south where the Red Hare Valley began, reaching directly to the mountainous part with a watch tower that had been built in to the connecting point. The Timber itself was around four metres high, with each piece being a cut from a tree from the Red Woods to the south. The other side of the wall had a large ditch that was around two metres deep, with two gates along the wall with bridges that crossed the ditch. There was a rampart on the inner side in some areas, reaching nearly three metres high so Warriors could look across, where as in other parts the wall had been reinforced with watch towers and walkways where Archers could look out across.
Whilst the wall wasn't complete, with some weak points with unbuilt Watch Towers, or walkways. Dom could tell that with three days to go, the thousand of Warriors that were gathering would have it finished.
Eudoxus had his ship dock at the small dock so that they could unload, a queue of ships waiting as the small dock couldn't deal with the large number of transport ships coming and going. Dom could see the Bellona at the edge of the Fort, her Ballista pointing forwards, with a large contingent of ships surrounding her and going further ahead. The River Ships of the Wu Navy were ideal for this battle, with their crews being full of men that could use a bow. The Louchuan of Tongpai Lake was still on route, but would take the place of the Bellona soon, with it's large selection of Crossbows and Ballista being one of their main defensive weapons.
Dom walked down the ramp of the Trireme with his guard, as he headed towards the Fort. His Generals and Admirals that had been dispatched here would most likely be there, and he could get a good idea of the current situation before he explored the area himself. The ship was also now being unloaded, with Dom's personal belongings and some other items. One of those that had come with him was his new Command Tent, a gift from Sun Quan as part of his Kingdom Founding Gifts. Dom had decided he would sleep in the quarters that were part of the Command Tent, rather than disrupting the small number of Civilians that lived in the newly founded Eruthros.
"General Subutai is at the Fort awaiting you." Gregorios welcomed as Dom arrived, or Centurion Gregorios as he was now known. Dom's former guard looked a mighty warrior in his improved armour and Centurions Helmet. He was holding his Dory Spear in one hand and a small shield in the other, whilst his new unit of Hoplite were working nearby on increasing the size of one of the ramparts. Dom wasn't sure if Gregorios had intentionally been waiting or if it was just a situation of circumstance.
"Thanks Gregorios, how is the life of a Centurion?" Dom asked him, the sound of the thousands of Warriors around them working made the small town feel peculiar. Dom could see the sight of dust in the south where he assumed some of the Cavalry were causing it.
"I think I am jealous of the easy life Actumerus currently has." Gregorios replied seriously as Dom's Batavian Guard grinned in response. "I finally find a girl and I am sent to Eruthros! What are the chances?"
"Hopefully not very high." Dom replied jokingly, "I don't intend to be invaded often."
"No, that is a very good point, let's make sure any of our other neighbours hear about how well we do here so they leave us alone." Gregorios replied with a nod, as he turned and began shouting at one of his Hoplite. "Cadmus, stop resting on your spear and move some more soil, the Rampart isn't going to build itself!"
"Having fun?" Dom laughed seeing Gregorios' expression, whilst Actumerus turned and began shouting his own orders to those behind them to hurry up with the unloading so the next ships could dock.
"No, Trojan's Century is next to us and they are building faster. You know what he is like, if they are quicker than us then he won't shut up about it for weeks." Gregorios replied shaking his head, before apologising that he had to leave and began stomping off towards his own men.