Characters involved: Mnemon Amatin, Darius, Min Li

The thundering of horses have echoed across the Hundred Kingdoms for days now, farmers, guards, and merchants all alike catching far off views of a wing of horsemen riding across the land. At their head, the helmeted Mnemon Amatin, having disguised himself as the First Pillar of Iron, rode. It was at the very edge of the territory beginning the Thousand Lakes they stopped, a gauntletted hand bringing a hold to the troops.

Darius sitting atop his own horse, at the head of the 7th Cavalry's first wing. He looks at the approaching First PIllar of Iron and raises his own hand to stay the multitude of Horsebows and crossbows that began to be made ready, and to keep the knights from lowering their lances. Looking to his Queen to be he riases an eyebrow. "The man sure enjoys a dramatic entrance. Shall we go meet him my dear?"

Min Li seems perhaps a little out of place with the rest of the 7th Cavalry's soldiers, and Darius. She doesn't look at all like a soldier, mounted as she is atop her horse. She's dressed quite the part of the country's queen-to-be, though she seems to have at least allowed the concession of wearing appropriate riding gear, rather than nice dresses or something of that sort. Though the riding gear she wears is still plenty fancy and expensive. "Of course!" she says with a smile, as though this is some sort of courtly dinner party rather than a potential military encounter. "It's always wonderful to meet new people."

"Spears, hold," Iron ordered. The horsemen were not dressed as shining knights - no, rather, they wore light skirmisher chain and forest cloaks, bearing spears and bows. Swords remained at the ready for dismounted combat. These were no mercenaries, far contrary to the word that had spread like wildfire of the man's mercenary army. "This could go badly, m'lord," said a captain to the dragon-blood. That helmet gently turned and settled upon the captain. "There is ground to be gained here, do not condemn this to battle yet," Amatin calmly replied, and he lifted his helmet to look upon the advancing cavalry.

Darius clicks his heels and trots forward as he says "Very well Lets go meet him. Corsair, if they look like they want to fight, feel free to oblige, but no bloodshed will commence unless it is obvious that is there intent." He trots halfway to the other cavalry force and waits watching, clearly wishing to speak.

Min Li gets her horse moving as well, staying right beside Darius rather than keeping him in front like she's meaning to use him as some sort of shield. Confident, she is. "I do hope he's not planning on trouble," she says idly to Darius as she takes a flask out of an inside pocket of her jacket. She unscrews it, takes a swig, then holds it out toward Darius as she reigns in beside him. She stays where she is, then, with a soft and expectant smile on her face.

Riding boots dug into the side of the Shire, the horse speeding forward. Just behind Amatin's right flank rode the Captain, until he met Darius in the field. "We finally come to face," greets Amatin. And so he got right down to business. "Be aware, Darius of the Thousand Lakes, it is not you who I seek to draw the spear upon. It is House Cathak, who would seek to gain power to dominate the other Houses and plunge the Realm into darkness. Already Civil War brews at home, we both know this." Obviously a Dynast.

Tilting his head in light greeting, Darius smiles. "Ah. So we come to the crust of the matter." he looks the man over carefully before continueing. "This is my Fiance, and Queen to be, Min Li." he looks back to the troops assembled there squinting with a professional soldier's eye. "Quite the little force you have assembled. Very impressive. Now. As to House Cathak there are a few things you should know." he returns his look to First Pillar and speaks. "I am Cathak. Should you press into territory that is under my sphere of influence I will crush your toy soldiers beneath my boot heels faster than any army I have ever faced. You should know, I have not lost an engagement yet. I have zero interest in starting. So this is not a threat it is an official promise."  Darius does not remove his gaze from the armored man before him. "But why should civil war start here? Between us? Think instead General Iron, of what we could accomplish if we simply left each other, or the Heavens forbid, put aside our differences and crush those who stand against us?" he pauses for a moment more before finishing his little spiel. "So. Knowing were I stand, knowing what I have a mind to think knowing were YOU stand. Where does that bring us?"

Min Li takes another swig out of her flask and watches the interaction between the two leaders, after tipping the brim of her riding hat to Iron in greeting. When Darius finishes she says, "Well met, General," she says jovially. Her attitude is of a sort she might have if the two men she was with were /not/ perhaps mortal enemies. "He's right, you know," she says to Iron. "He doesn't lose. And now he's not alone, either. There are other factors to be considered now, and you might find your intelligence on them... somewhat lacking." She winks, takes another drink. "I've reason to wish to see this land defended as well, and I would much rather have friends than enemies. I would be most pleased if the next time you came to these lands, you could do so as an honoured guest of the state and not an enemy of it."

From beneath that helmet, eyes can be seen squinting. "Little you know in your arrogance, Cathak Darius," replied Amatin. "You have carved yourself a little kingdom to gain your own taste of power, pretending you can drill troops - and so you can, as a Dynast, to destroy small kingdoms who have no knowledge of Realm military drill and strategy." He paused, looking over the horizon at Darius's troops, and then turned his horse to his own, peering back. Min Li went ignored, for now. He took a deep breath. Gauntletted hands touched his helmet - he could not gain the power he so aspired to with himself so well hidden. They lowered, and he turned his horse again to Darius. "Little you know of truly raising men, young Cathak. Two days behind camps a legion of so-called toy soldiers - toy soldiers worthy of the Realm, my friend." That helmet slowly lifted, and hair fell free. There, in all of his jade armored glory, Mnemon Amatin's piercing eyes stared at Darius. "General Mnemon Amatin, blessed by her great Lady Mnemon. And so now begins Civil War on our Blessed Isle. Let us hope that we can pact together here and provide security for our people while the Isle destroys herself."

Darius tilts his head and nods to Amatin. "Well met Mnemon Amatin. I have heard of you and your exploits. I am honoered to sit afield from a man of such renown." He pauses a moment. "Not knowing what is going on in the lands of the Blessed Isle, were does that leave us? should we draw blades and clash, bring our troops together and crush each other, or do we simply ignore each other?" he looks to Amatin's troops not far away, "And when did the war start?"

"You cannot expect my revelation to remain secret for long, Darius," replied Amatin, handing his helmet to his Captain. "The other Houses will learn of this, and war will not be far off. But we do not sit in the Isle, nor are we closely tied to House politics in the middle of the Scavenger Lands, far from Greyfalls, far from the Realm. Out here, we are lords and ladies of what we carve out - you cannot call yourself both a Lord and a servant of Cathak, but merely allies now that you call yourself king." He looked out to the Thousand Lakes cavalry waiting. Word would spread, especially with- he slowly pulled a small glass orb from a pouch, looking down at it. And then he looked up to Darius. "We would do well to ally ourselves against the chaos, Darius, and seek greatness. We are bold men."

Min Li raises a brow curiously at news of the civil war beginning on the Isle, but actually seems largely unsurprised by the news. "If the Realm is at war with itself, then it will be up to the Threshold to defend itself while battle rages on the Isle. Quarreling amongst ourselves will only make us all weaker," she says. "This has been a long time coming, and this is something we Thresholders have known since news of the Empress' disappearance reached us. Creation's enemies will not sit idly and wait for the Realm to sort itself out, nor will those who wish to control Realm territory here in the East wait either." She takes another swig of her drink, and manages to remain smiling through all of this. "Mark my words... we'll have bigger enemies than each other in the years to come." She remarks to Darius, then, almost an aside but loud enough for Amatin to hear. "The choice is yours, you are king, but my advice... you'll have enemies aplenty to fight. No need to make him another."

Darius looks over his shoulder to his Queen to be as she speaks. His face is nuetral, but the one eyeregards her as she speaks, intently listening to the advice of the older person in the pair. Then he turns back to Amatin. "Bold yes. Foolish? I'd like to think not. Ever was my hope to bring the Hundred Kingdoms to their senses and ally them under one government to stop the blood shed. Through military action if I must. But now we must heed the advise of the Queen, and wait. The Wyld may return, the Anathma may use this confusion to use their army and strike against us. We both need to be warry, and we both need to work together." He nudges his horse to within arms reach of Amatin and holds out his left hand. "You have my word of mutual support, so long as both Mnemon and Cathak territory are honored, I think we can accomplish great things."

The hand was taken, and squeezed. "The threats we face are great. This goes beyond Mnemon and Cathak, now," replied the Dynast, replacing his helmet upon his head. He nodded to the Queen, and a fisted hand thumped over his heart in salute to the Thousand Lakes King. Pulling on the reins of the horse, Amatin turned and rode back to the waiting cavalry. En route, the Captain removed a horn from his belt and sent out a low, deep rumble through the plains. Assembling, the group began to ride off towards the distant forests.