[⦻ash.themagician⦻]

Ja'zaar, The Holy Mane and leader of Lorkhaj-Raan with his small legion of copper-clad soldiers trip to Bastion could only be described as one thing; Late, Word of the war council arrived to Castle Alkosh late, Ja'zaar awoke from his ritualistic drug trip late, His best generals newly tempered swords came late, and due to a poor decision of travelling to bastion by road opposed to sea in fear of a ambush Ja'zaar was sure to arrive late.

It was only half way down the road to Chail when the caravan could see the borders of Aimsir that exactly how foolish taking the roads was had became clear to them, being stuck between the glittering bay and enemy territory with only an escort detachment.
In spite of the shared worry that the days bad luck was buildup to a disaster Ja'zaar and his troops had courage that they'd survive the walk, as would most when in a party comprised of the best and most blessed warriors and paladins to walk the sands, spearheaded by Ja'zaar himself, the most famed spellsword Lorkhaj-Raan had seen since its founding.

Soon enough Ja'zaar felt comfortably far enough into the Queensland that he split the escort party, ordering most of the party to wander the Queensland, both questing for the locals and functioning as wandering embassies, signified by a grand Lorkhaj-Raani standard on their backs.
Now as Ja'zaars escort was only him and his most trusted advisors, they made their way to Bastion, few words of clarification had to be shared between Ja'zaar and the local officials as he made his way into the council room. Ja'zaar was quiet as he entered, trying to be as respectful as possible, yet he failed not to bring attention to himself as his great black war-armor clanged loudly when he sat

"Hail, Great leaders, This one apologizes for his absence, In my haste to arrive I may of... Overthought the best route to arrive from."

[Loller Corleone]

"I agree with the Summer Queen, offense as soon as possible will be our greatest weapon." Theoden interjected.

He looked over at Ja'zaar and nodded.

"The north does seem to be their preference, but I do not believe we should be concentrating our attack solely on there. We should expect an attack on the southern holdfasts too, especially the ones closest to Aimsir, like Mestrland. I would suggest a course of simultaneous attacks from both the North and South, leaving them with no space to advance in either sides."

[Minas Tyrrith]

The newly-elected Steward of Minas Tyrrith, His excellency the Bishop of Quillin, dismounts and orders a page to lead his horse to be fed and watered. When he has entered the Council Hall, and is given a summary of the discussions so far, he addresses the Queen:

"We in Minas Tyrrith shall assist wherever your Majesty needs us. We have some 1,200 elite knights, equipped with our best horses and armour."

[Jazzy]

Kiirweyä looked between the others as they spoke, listening to their words and considering the options. Finally, as there seemed to be a lull in the discussion, she spoke up. 

"We don't know the prey," she said. "You say offense, but how can we hunt if we only make a line and fight them head-on? We know how many we are, most of our people are not warriors even, and we don't know how many this knight has following him. For all we know they could attack in waves too, and if they are more, we will lose. Only slowly. My cousins who live their lives in only one place can be content to stand in a line and wait for the prey to come to them, but those who still live in the mountains will hunt as we always have." 

She knew this was going against what the general consensus of the meeting seemed to be, but the way they wanted to fight was not the way she knew how, and she had to at least speak her mind in the matter before a decision was made. "This knight has a lot of land, he can't be everywhere in his territory at once, and somewhere there will be cracks in his vigilance. Let's go there. Stalk him, observe the prey, find his weaknesses. Even monsters must eat, take this from him. His followers are coming from somewhere, stop them. You can fight as you please, but Sikosanala are used to hunting in this way, and if we fight in a line on a field we will die."

[⦻ash.themagician⦻]

Ja'zaars ears twitch at Kiirweyä as he perks up in his seat, "Yes, Yes. This is quite true, As someone bordering Aimsir I do think itd be most wise to understand this red knights armies,"

"Also", The Khajiit says, Leaning back into his seat "On the topic of Lorkhaj-Raan's proximity to Aimsir, How many soldiers does your Majesty need? I'd by all means send all my forces in a heartbeat if you so asked me to, But being so near the foe and so far from freinds I see it much wiser to fortify my own borders, Perhaps my navy can focus on forming a secure shipping route through the Glittering Bay to receive orders and news directly from the Queensland?"

[Loller Corleone]

Theoden gestures to one of the only four bodyguards that is accompanying him and the guard came closer. He whispered something into the bodyguard's ears and the bodyguard nodded and left the hall right after in hurry.

He looked around to see if anyone else was going to speak. Seeing that no one was, he cleared his throat loudly as to gather the attention of others present and speak.

"The lady who spoke before makes sense. We need to learn more about our enemy. But we should also be preparing for the battle which is, without any doubt, coming. I propose that we send our top spies to learn more about the enemy and their ways and plans. I am willing to send the best spy I have for this purpose. We shouldn't send too many of those over or they will all get caught."

[Aynia]

Aynia thought to herself for a moment. They made good points, but they could not afford the time for reconnaissance before acting. And they needed to fortify the holdfasts, quickly. She sighed heavily to herself.

"Perhaps we take the two of your advice in tandem with action. We must fortify the holdfasts as quickly as possible, and secure the Glittering Bay. At the same time, taking reconnaissance measures with some of our most trusted and... elusive spies. Our advantage is that we've fought this before, and we're on home ground. Right now it seems they only occupy a small area around Aimsir and are pushing North, but we must keep them contained. I'd rather war for a third of a season again than allow them any more ground to corrupt than they already have." She cleared her throat and looked around.

"I'd like an official parchment drawn up with all available numbers from each of you, as quickly as possible. The Queensland itself has a sizeable Army and a moderate Navy force, but I want to know what numbers we're starting with before we begin to allocate, but I'd like the majority of our forces North of Aimsir and fortifying the holdfasts, then a number coming up from the South." She moves the pawns around into position. "We shall send out a handful of spies as soon as possible. At the same time we deploy land troops, we'll begin to move our ships into position." She slides two ships over the map. "I don't know that the water near Aimsir hasn't become corrupted and infested. The Glittering Bay is normally safe haven to ships, but these are extraordinary circumstances."

[Lil La Luna]

"I do not have the exact numbers of our forces your majesty, but our hold doth house a sizeable number of knights and cavalry men, as well as a fair number of tribesmen from amongst the satyrs and talmuns who will take up arms to aid the crown." Taighe said. In truth she did not know exactly the size of the forces that had been mustered back in Tyrn U'Yn Elfait, though she assumed that most of the hold's knight would be on their way at this very moment.

"Though our hold boasts no navy in the sense though of by Syvis-folk, as we have nary ship nor boat, but our seaborn knights and warriors are still quite formidable. Though not much help in the retaking of Aimsir, our merfolk knights and warriors, along with the knights of my own kin shall gladly help protect the Glittering Bay and keep the ships there safe."

"There are only few roads between here and Tyrn U'Yn Elfait, so our force will take some days to make it here, but be assured that they shall travel here with all the haste they can muster your majesty. Our forces at sea will have an easier time to make it here, traveling under the waves of the sea, and should be within the glittering bay before our knights arrive by land."

[⦻ash.themagician⦻]

J'a'zaar had been scrawling down his forces numbers and running a few calculations before looking back up to Aynia and speaking "Aye, Lorkhaj-Raan is in a similar position to Tyrn U'Yn Elfait navy wise, We lack any boats beyond a few leisure and transport vessels."
Ja'zaar looks back down to his documents and continues "most if not all of our activity in the bay is handled by our Merfolk divisions from their great coral cities, i believe in tandem with Tyrn U'Yn Elfait's own merfolk the waves will be very well secured and perhaps our best way of communing and communicating without the Red Knights interference, But I digress."

He finishes the report on lorkhaj-raans military, having cross referenced other reports on hand and with heavy assistance from his accompanying generals, and puts it forward to be seen by the council.
it reads;

Khajiiti, Wyrm-Elven, Elven, and Human soildery - 2060

Satyr soildery - 40

Centaurian soildery - 100

Merfolkish naval soildery - 400

Harpish Spies and Bombers - 90

~~ Signed, Ja-zaar Holy-Hammer ~~

"I suspect our Harpy division, better known as 'Seekers', will be very useful in our plan to learn of our invaders. Im conflicted on the best use for the Centaur legions however... Perhaps they should patrol the flanks of the Queens armies to warn of ambushes and pick off the enemies stragglers?"

[Vijay]

Sargent Keevan had slipped out of the room and made her way back to the ship as fast as possible to relay orders. By the time she got back, Garvin was speaking again 

"Your Majesty is wise. As previously advised, we have 400 here, mostly support troops - the Róisín is already on it's way back to pick up another 400. The majority of whom will be longbows and scouts.

IronBay is across the water now, but was on the front line in the last war. We are heavily defended.
We have two fully manned fortifications. Fort Stonehill & Firewood Keep, along with 4 Roundship armed heavy cogs, anchored in position to defend the port. 
Admiral Egan informs me that these are fully functioning vessels that can be moved if called upon.
As for numbers, in time of war every able bodied adult in Ironbay can be called upon as a reliable soldier, all are members of the military reserve stretching our army to 5000. And once our trade cogs have completed their refits, we will have a capacity of 600 sea men & women.
I would, however advise that this includes military medics & sappers and other support to keep the arrows flying. That's means a maximum of 1500 combat longbows in total.

Then there's these that I wish to share with everyone in this room - the general spreads a few copies of a pamphlet that appears to contain mechanical drawings on the table - this is how we pass information around Ironbay fast & as it's a time of war, I offer it to you all. We use a mobile version with flags on the battlefield & to communicate to our ships.
On the back of each drawing, codes are printed. Any army that wishes to have one of my troops explain the inner workings and the codes is welcome to have a specialist attached."

[Dyllon_Avocado]

Lady Dholorh bowed her head humbly before the Queen and War Council. She knew that whatever rangers should could provide the coalition would be much fewer in numbers and much poorer equipped then the great IronBay, or the harpies of Lorkhaj-Raan. The forester rangers could potentially prove useful scounts and skirmishers, however they were not yet the silver beasthunters she wished yet. She spoke softly, "Your Grace and company, I regret to say that the forests of Dyllspire have little to offer for the likes of fighting men and women, however the spirits have gifted our holdfast with the gift of medicine. I offer the war-surgeons, physicians, plague doctors, and medicines of Dyllspire to the cause."

• Combatant Provisions of Dyllspire
• 500 war-surgeons
  
• 228 plague doctors
  
• 169 war priests
  
• 78 rangers
  

[Loller Corleone]

"Your majesty, Mestrland's navy is not strong. We are more mighty on land. This parchment contains the number of troops we have."

Theoden passed a parchment to Queen Aynia.

Mestrland's Available Number of Troops These are the forces that are currently available with the Holdfast of Mestrland to be deployed at the convenience of King Theoden Zinsalor. 150 Elvish Knights 900 Human Long-swordsmen 1000 Crossbows consisting of humans, elves and half-elves 200 Half-elf Horseback Raiders 1200 Spearmen consisting of humans, elves and half-elves

[Jazzy]

There hadn't been any deeper census conducted in Nurali since, well, ever. Kiirweyä instead considered what she knew about who lived in the holdfast and made a quick estimate. While most had moved to more settled areas in recent times, there were still some who held on to their old way of life, and while these would be hard to organize they would surely all fight for their home. She knew her people. They were not warriors, but hunters and fiercely protective of their lands. They would come.

The settled ones were the hard estimate. She didn't really know their numbers in detail, but from what she'd seen there were at least some hundred warriors among them, as well as their large trading ships and corresponding crews. Although these were under the merchants' ownership and likely to be spread across the sea.

"Our numbers are uncertain," she finally said. "But we should be able to muster a force. My sedentary cousins will be 300, 500 if they abandon the holdfast's defenses entirely. Our merchant fleet is in the order of two dozen ships, meaning there are around 800 crewmates manning them, but most of them are not fighters. Which ones among them will come if called is uncertain."

"We who still live as our ancestors did, however." She straightened a bit as she continued, motioning to her companions demonstratively. "We are ready to hunt for you. The Sikosanala do not abandon their friends and we will defend our homes. Every hunter with wind in their wings would come if called. We are not trained fighters but we are hunters. If we empty our homes there will be thousands, maybe seven. But if only the hunters come there will be fewer, perhaps one thousand, but they will be ready to hunt our enemy. And there will be a home for them to return to."

"This is what we offer," she said, quickly drawing her crystal knife and laying it across the table in front of her. "My blade will hunt for your sake. As will many others. We listen to your word, and if you say we fly for a final time we shall, all of us. My sedentary cousins will be slow in responding, as they tend to be. But we of the peaks and winds will come quick. Shall I call everyone, and let fate decide if the Sikosanala live?"

[Aynia]

Aynia thought long and hard. This should be enough troops to overwhelm Aimsir initially. She tapped her finger to her mouth and really wished Carrot were here. She was beginning to think maybe she should call him back.

"I'm thinking... that we'd like the majority of our troops here..." She points north of Aimsir. "And a fair amount coming up through the south. The rest we'll keep on standby to be fresh troops if needed, and to guard the Queensland." She sighs heavily. "We have the provisions to feed and house these additional bodies for about a month or two. But we're going to need provisions shipped in, preferably from the west..." She looks around expectantly.

[Loller Corleone]

"It would be better if most Mestrland's troops fought from the South. Its land we know and we will have advantage fighting there." Theoden said while staring at the map.