The Fireseed Wars

Kalvan nodded, pausing to lit his pipe. "I see why Theovacar would not welcome a new neighbor moving into territory traditionally controlled, if not ruled outright, by Grefftscharr or its interests. In that case, I won't waste my time with envoys and ambassadors; instead, I'll try and see if I can find another ally."

"I believe that's the wisest course, Your Majesty." Tortha looked like he wanted to say more, but stopped. Then started again, "Theovacar is a dangerous man, Your Majesty. Do not accept his help, even should he offer, unless you can hold a dagger to his throat."

"Good advice, Trader. I am forewarned and will be wary regarding all future dealings with Theovacar. What can you tell me about his military might?"

Kalvan had been questioning every military man in Ulthor Port about the art of war in the Upper Middle Kingdoms and the conclusions he'd reached had provided him with guarded optimism in regards to what they would be facing once the Hostigi openly moved into the Upper Middle Kingdoms. To begin with, the princedoms were about two hundred years behind the Five Great Kingdoms in all things military. There were few calivers and arquebuses, but no muskets. Styphon's House had kept the supply of muskets limited as part of their attempt to control the dissemination of military technology. After all, muskets were capable of piercing armor. No real cannons, either, only a few old hooped-iron bombards-none with field carriages.

Traditionally, Upper Middle Kingdom forces used crossbows and pikes, instead of arquebuses and other handguns. Overall, there was much more reliance on heavy, armored cavalry than in the Five Kingdoms. In some areas longbows were still predominant. Their military technology, tactics and arms were similar to Italy in the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Centuries. The Italians were slow to adapt to gunpowder weapons until the French invaded Italy in 1494 under Charles VIII and seized Naples.

The Italians had raised noble gendarmes, local and mercenary crossbow-men and militia pikemen for their armies. Few city-states had maintained a standing army, most had relied on condottiere. The Middle Kingdoms didn't have large standing armies either, and also relied on mercenary forces-even more than the Five Kingdoms until Kalvan's arrival. They also used tribal (Urgothi and Ruthani) irregulars, much like the Cossacks or Stradiots.

Typically, most Upper Kingdom armies had very few arquebusier companies; at least, not until recently, and there was still some local resistance: "everyone knows crossbows are better than those new-fangled firesticks! Much more reliable and they don't belch fire and brimstone." one informant from Ragyath told Kalvan when questioned. This was due in large part to Styphon's House who only sold serpentine powder-an unstable form of gunpowder, not the more reliable corned powder-in the Middle Kingdoms. It had been in Styphon's House's best interest to keep the Urgothi kingdoms dependent upon the Temple and militarily inferior to the Five Kingdoms.

He hoped to use the long simmering anti-Styphoni sentiment, which came from their restrictions, to his advantage.

The switch from crossbowmen and lancers to musketeers and cuirassiers wasn't going to happen overnight; however, it would happen much faster now that Kalvan was on the scene-you could put that in the bank and draw compound interest.

Tortha finally put his pipe fixings back into his tobacco pouch and lit his burl pipe. "Hmm. I didn't get a chance to do much reconnoitering, but Kostran has been keeping a keen eye on the Grefftscharr Royal forces, including troop and naval movements. The Grefftscharr Army is big by Upper Middle Kingdom standards, around ten thousand soldiers-a quarter cavalry and the rest foot, half of them marines. Heavy cavalry is predominant in the Middle Kingdoms since they fight a lot of Ruthani and Urgothi light cavalry, which they cannot match. Therefore, they overrun them with big heavy knights on armored destriers. Most of them are armed with lance, sword, mace and an occasional horse pistol. There are very few mobile guns, mostly old bombards carried on huge carts, and they take so much maneuvering the battle's usually won or lost before they're even fired.

"The foot soldiers usually carry pikes, halberds, swords and crossbows. The Housecarls are still considered the King's bodyguard and fight with spears and shields, as do a lot of the militia. Theovacar has created his own Royal Bodyguard, the King's Companions. Crossbows are the missile weapons of choice. Kostran was telling me that one of the problems Theovacar has run into in converting crossbow units to shot units is one of pride. Previously, due to scarcity, shot units had a lot of prestige. However, this all changed when the new Hostigi fireseed arrived; suddenly, anyone who can point a gun can shoot it and the status of the arquebus companies dropped accordingly."