Heretreecs of Aeon

Heretreecs of Aeon

Year 126

The first wave of attackers were just plain conventional armies. Wasnt hard to scare them away with an equally massive display of force. I have a lot of beetles, and my beetles are strong. In a straight fight, Id win.

When the first wave knocked on our doorsteps, those who wanted to leave have already left. Or at least, most of them. Theres some that stayed back, and I suspect they are in cahoots with the temples. Jasmine and my artificial minds are actively monitoring them.

I didnt arrest them immediately, because I wanted to know what they know. It may be a good idea to find out how deep their network is. So, for now, Ill play along. Let them win some small victories and catch all of them in a single swoop. Its like dangling a lure to catch a prey. There is a general consensus among the populace that I know what they are doing, but that didnt seem to have stopped those that sympathise or support the other 4 temples from plotting.

Most plots are rather simple, really. Find a way to cause damage to me, or find a way to convince people to change sides, or reveal/expose some kind of strategic advantage.

It also relies on a great deal of trust. That those who plot can trust those who assist them. So, its not entirely difficult to cause the whole thing to collapse once a bit of fake news and intelligence is added to the mix.

Are they willing to act on intelligence that may be fake?

There are skills that help that. Such as [discern truth]. Yvon said, apparently plotters have some means of verifying facts. That said, Kings and rulers have counter-plot skills too, such as [discern loyalty], or [unravel plots], or some rather cutely named ones, like [Monkey Wrench], which apparently causes the forces of chaos to mess things up.

Of course, I wonder whether there are abilities which therefore interfere with my ability to observe them. I believe there are, after all, Ive seen the heroes do something like that. Like a [silence bubble] or something.

There were largely 3 groups. One of Gaya and Hawa. One of Aiva, and another one was a ragtag bunch. The last temple apparently was more straightforward and did not believe in plots. I didnt believe it though, I suspect this was some kind of false information.

Some operated in a typical military function. They focused on gathering information about my military forces, and well...

[Domain has blocked attempted espionage skill]

Yeah. That happened multiple times during this month. It seemed that domain also interferes with a wide variety of skill types, especially those that come from afar.

[Domain has blocked attempted scrying]

The temples sent many waves, and throughout my borders, those kingdoms and nations have been forced to let the crusading armies pass. It wasnt a choice for them.

Should we just let them march through our neighbours? The council gathered. Its more of a war council now, with the representatives across the Freshlands sending their generals and leaders. There are many who are now my sympathisers.

As a divine-tier being, the nobles and rulers of the various segments and cities have a clear choice. Side with the temples, or side with me and earn some of my divine favor. For the local nobles, its actually quite a clear choice that I can bring more to the table.

Unless Aeon permits us marching an army of beetles into our neighbours lands...

Most of our neighbours are economically intertwined with us, so they are in a difficult position. They are mostly smaller nation-states or kingdoms, and they do not have a large standing army. Nothing that can stand up to a 300,000 strong crusading army.

I paused and wondered, whats the objective of this army? Do all of these 300,000 really share the goals that the gods and temples leadership decided?

They probably dont know the true extent of my reach, and so, Ive extended [subsidiary trees] in all directions, even through the lands of these other neighbouring kingdoms. I also made [subsidiary trees] all the way to the port city where most of the crusading forces landed. Most people do not notice trees by the roadside.

The port citys packed. It was not the only port to receive the crusading army. These forces are coming through 5 to 6 different port cities and will converge along the way to me. In a way, if I wanted to spring a surprise attack, the best time is when they are still here.

Theres a lot of idle chatter. A sense that the enemy is still really far away.

I still cant believe I sailed across the ocean just to fight a tree. Some of the soldiers said. Cant they just send a woodcutter and chop the tree down?

Im sure the temple thought of it.

Its not just any tree. Its a tree that attained the cursed power of the evil gods.

An evil tree god, really? Some of the soldiers seemed baffled by it. I mean, all Ive heard of the Freshlands is that this evil tree god has been shielding them from the demons, and suddenly they tell me this magic tree is now evil?

Shush, dont let the templars hear that.

Aw fuck them. Im just here for the money.

Im just here because the big boss says so.

The soldiers dont seem like they all believe in their cause all that much. Its a shame that wars, being what they are, means we will cross paths, and they will die. From my observation, the composition of the Crusading army is roughly similar to a typical army. 90% regulars with soldiers or warrior classes, and 10% unique. Its the 10% I need to pay attention to, for any unusual skills or classes.

Its been some time since I had a large scale fight with other humans.

Council. I spoke to the war council. Reach out to all the neighbouring kingdoms and ask for an alliance. If they want to side with the temples, we will declare war and we will invade. If they join us, I will offer them protection.

The council did as they were told, and surprisingly quite a few of the kingdoms agreed to form an alliance. They instantly rejected the crusades demand for freedom of entry, and I populated the allied kingdoms with my [subsidiary trees]. Fools, these temples. I have 500,000 beetles I can use in combat, and they regenerate in about 3-4 months.

Theyve been using fireballs and all, trying to make a dent at the walls, but with a giant attendant tree at the back, they can take a few hits.

This is just a boring stalemate. Edna frowned.

Aeon wants it that way. Faris said. And I think the enemy knows it.

-

We should just charge in. The enemy seems to forget that even grass can have ears. And there are roots that can just peek out of the ground just a little bit. Right below the commanders camp. This is a waste of time.

The General said we should hold.

What for?

The Generals giving the enemy too much credit. Other than that massive wall, we outnumber the enemy force by 5 to 1. And we have 1,000 elites of at least level 30. Why send us here if we are just playing this waiting game? The Commander was a young man. Eager. Anxious, and wants to prove himself.

He walked a bit, and a thorn gently pricked his leg. A little bit of sap. To stimulate his hormones and testosterone. A hormone-filled mistake, here and there.

I command our force to charge in. His body flared up, hot. Anger. Frustration. The sap merely pushed him off the cliff.

Commander, the general said... The assistant and captains tried to say otherwise.

I am the commander here. And I say we charge.

They charged into a wall of thorns and maneater-plants, while [Aeonic Rangers] and archers rained death. They quickly realised the folly of their attack, and retreated. But that mistake cost them 10,000 lives, and none of the defenders.

Meanwhile at another front...

I was told to expect large beetle armies. The General was in a large camp, flanked by his advisors. And in all of our intelligence, weve only seen beetle armies no larger than 30,000. Whatever it is, our enemy is hiding its strength, and wants a long-drawn war.

Does that mean it wants to test our supply lines? A strategist asked. A long war becomes a test of logistics and resourcing.

The general nodded. That makes a lot of sense. Our enemy, as a heretic tree on the very edges of divinity, must have tremendous powers over plants and growth. It must be confident that it can continuously feed its population, so it is not afraid of a long siege.

My beetles are just mostly doing hit-and-run on smaller forces.

So it wants to draw it out until the temple decides its no longer worth it. It expects the temples to pull their funding and supplies. A strategist concluded.

A swift attack might be just what its not prepared for. The general said. But its rather clear that we cant mount a swift attack either. Its a big piece of land, and even with the [general]s skills, its probably too much.

We should do a precision strike, then. A group of elites right at the center of the enemy.

The general of the Coalition of Crusaders pondered the idea. I have ancient records to suggest that it wont work. Written by one [General] Ackbar. Its probably a trap.

Ancient? 40 years in ancient?

Its our best chance.

Not if we use our heroic artifacts.

Now my ears perked up.

The temple has not authorised use of the heroic artifacts.

If the temple wants us to slay this heretical evil tree, then we should be allowed to use our heroic items. A heroic weapon can destroy that wall, easy.

Ooh. Ill be on the receiving end of a heroic grade item. Now, thats something worth testing out. Im a level 168 tree, can I survive a hit from a hero-grade item?

Then we must send a request. The general said. Outline our observations, insist that a quick victory is ideal, and demand authorisation for our hero-grade items.

The temples have a lot of hero-grade items. Items left by previous heroes, or perhaps just claimed by the temple. People like Harris and Mirei even donated some items to the temples too, for political reasons. So the temples, over the years and decades, accumulated a decent stockpile of hero-items.

Of course, they cant make full use of it, but because they are hero-items, they should still pack a strong punch.

All I could say was, well, bring it on!

Spaizzer

Thanks for reading. Patreons actually already voted for the Titans, ie Mind Tree & Walker.