The Greatest Sin

…Kassandora. Once I would have called her my sister; Light and War, twin Goddesses of Victory. I have had many chances to kill her, and I hesitated every time. The other Pantheon respect her almost to the point of adoration but that is only because they see the glorious Kassandora on the surface. She is a Goddess I once thought I knew, yet now I realise I was staring out onto the ocean’s surface and pretending I had mapped its deepest abysses. I can now confidently write that Kassandora’s mind, with whatever machinations run deep inside, are simply inhuman. I know nothing of the ocean beneath the surface, but I know not to ever sail it again.

And Anassa… Anassa is simply a vile woman.

- Excerpt from the secrets texts in the White Pantheon’s closed library. Written by Goddess Allasaria, of Light: ‘My thoughts on the Daughter-Goddesses.’ Written during the Great War.

“We coup Kirinyaa with the army once war is declared.” Kassandora pressed her finger into Nanbasa as Arascus watched. “It’s that simple.” They sat alone on a cliff, far away from prying voices and near the camp. A day had passed since Mwai had accidently stopped the assassination of Elassa. Anassa and Fer should be returning soon, the lack of news from Iliyal meant they had succeeded, the elf would have contacted them immediately if there was any problem. The sun was overhead, it had only risen a few hours ago.

Sending Fer to Arcadia would obviously result in casualties. There was no way to pretend it would not. Maybe Kavaa, Helenna and Iniri could pretend Fer had changed, but Fer had always been like this. So sweet you could forget the fact she drank blood and ate raw flesh to sustain herself. The casualties would be in the hundreds, if not thousands. With her beastmen equipped with modern rifles, Kassandora predicted anywhere from two to six thousand dead, depending on how well the mages faired. If the operation was a success, Anassa would act like… well, she would act like herself. The Goddess of Sorcery singlehandedly added five thousand dead to that number. Ten thousand would be high, but it was well within the realm of possibility.

Arascus readjusted himself on the log as he looked at Kassandora’s finger. The map was of Kirinyaa, then another map of Arika as a whole. “If we push the Reclamation War forwards now, push the men, we’ll rally the populace.” Arascus said. “They’ll see success and they’ll want to join to be part of that success.” Kassandora nodded as she looked over to a paper next to her.

“On the low end, since the bill passed we already had volunteers numbering fourty thousand once they saw we would be taking them. Wages at above median national rates would be a good incentive.”

“That would burn reserves too quickly.” Arascus replied as Kassandora shifted in her black uniform. Joyeuse had been slammed into the ground and the trees on the red rock had been cut. She needed twenty minutes before they started to get her anger out at the operation failing. “Even Kavaa’s treasury would be empty within the year and then we’d see desertion if we hire them with the promise of money.” Kassandora sighed as she readjusted that red ponytail of hers. Arascus knew her well enough to know those constant readjustments were just pure rage.

“So?”

“We don’t pay a lot in the first place. Don’t lie to them, provide food and shelter, but keep the wages themselves low.” Arascus began. “It will be easier to seek investiture from the government if we keep costs down, poverty will form a brotherhood among the men and it will make the coup easier.”

Kassandora narrowed her red eyes as she leaned back from her squat and into a sitting position. A small wave of red Kirinyaan soil shot out in a cloud around her. “Something along the lines of ‘you’re the unpaid heroes, where is your reward?’ sort of talk?” Arascus nodded.

“We’ll have journalists for operations but in private…” He smiled to himself. “Helenna does not even have to know we’re not trying. We’ll just tell her what the government is giving us and she’ll spread the talk around. The questions on why we so little will spring up naturally. Just sow the seeds of those seeds in a few discussions and leave it at that.”

“I’m forming an audit branch to keep track of supplies and thievery.” Kassandora said. “Sokolowski and the men who joined under me will make up the bulk of those forces, I’ll make sure they turn a blind eye to rumours like that.” Arascus nodded.

“Yesterday, before we left, I got confirmation of three more locations for factories being approved.” He said. “These won’t be Binturongs, we’ll be making rifles out of them.”

“How long until production starts?”

“Three? Four months?” Arascus said and shrugged. “The Binturong factories sprung up quickly. The building codes here are laxer than in Karaina.”

“What about government inspections?”

“My field, don’t worry about it.” Arascus said. It wasn’t hard to get inspectors to not speak. Especially not when the country had been caught in a fervour against the White Pantheon. Helenna knew two weeks in advance which factories had been chosen, if worst came to worst, then a bribe here and a threat there could be used to choose new locations.

“I won’t then.” Kassandora said. “Then war-plan wise.” She pointed at Kirinyaa’s northern border. “They’ll come from here most likely. Best case is the Guardians and Paladins come on the ground, absolute worst case is massive armies via the sea. With trouble in the Pantheon, I expect to see Elassa move first, us to repel her, then we see Maisara and Fortia join in.”

“On the sea front, artillery could sink ships.” Arascus said as he crossed his arms.

“Most likely, I’m not worried too much about naval invasions and we didn’t have many naval invasions in the past. Kirinyaa only has a few ports, you can’t supply too many men without opening the northern rails and highways. I want to give up the border and Northern provinces.” She looked again. “What I would do is build reserve ports as we land and siege the cities, but I doubt they will do that. Think of it yes, but we all know what sort of damage sieging cities does.”

Arascus nodded. Morality had been exploited in the past, now he doubted they could sustain sieges like that. The Pantheon Gods themselves could, but their armies? A Divine, even Allasaria herself would not be able to fully siege a city as large as Nanbasa alone. He looked back to the north. “Give up all the north?” Kassandora shook her head as she took a pencil and started to draw lines.

“Mount a defence here and there obviously. It will be good field testing for new weaponry but sacrifice the land for lives of troops. Kirinyaa has enough space to lure them in.” Arascus nodded as Kassandora started drawing line after line. “The industrial areas themselves are conglomerated along the coast, the north is mountain, desert and flatlands. The Pantheon gain little in reality from seizing that and feeling as if they’re losing will make it easier for the natives here to deal with hardships.”

“Then what?” The Goddess of War smiled terribly upon hearing the question.

“We do a Great War classic. Scorch the land and supply lines. The mountains especially, tunnels and bridges can be blown and then every man here.” Kassandora drew a circle in the centre of Kirinyaa, past it mountain ranges but still far from the coast. “It’s clean-up at that point. We deploy Anassa and Olephia. If Baalka is awoken by then…” Kassandora merely looked up at Arascus and grinned, her eyes burning. There was nothing to say, if the Goddess of Disease woke up, then stranded men would end their own lives to escape her plagues.

“Lure them in and seize the land back.” Arascus said and Kassandora nodded.

“Epa itself doesn’t have armies, I doubt they’ll be willing to form militaries, and I doubt even more they’ll have men willing to die in Arika for the White Pantheon’s War. If we push them to the border.” Kassandora pulled out a small map of the entire world of Arda. She drew a cross over the Divine Mountain. “The loss of prestige can be abused, Doschia and Rancais especially, coups or civil wars, it’s too early to tell yet but either can work to make sure we have a foothold.”

“And Karaina?”

“Civil War definitely. Karaina A and B are already split and hate each other. A coup would be impossible, whichever half of the country is responsible for it, the other side will leave.” Arascus pulled the pencil from Kassandora’s hand and circled Arika.

“We expand here first, then embargo Epa.” Kassandora narrowed her eyes for a few moments as her eyes shone and then she nodded.

“That will be good, we’ll pressure their economies. Epa is poor in rare metals.” She took the pencil back and made a small cross over each country directly bordering the Jungle. “These will go easily.” Then she went to the south of the continent. “Here, it will be either coups or conquest.”

“Give and take, I don’t know which one.” Arascus said. “We’ll need to see how the situation develops.” He looked away from the map and at Kassandora. She sat there, her red eyes in complete focus as she studied that map, that red ponytail spiralled down her back as she sat in that black uniform. They had been at this for four hours already. “Anassa and Fer are coming back.” Arascus switched topics.

“I know.” Kassandora said, still looking at the map. She drew another line.

“No reaction?” Arascus asked and Kassandora shrugged. She dropped her pen and leaned back, supporting herself with her arms.

“You know me.” She said. “What reaction am I supposed to give?” Arascus shrugged, Kassandora merely sighed. “Are you excited?”

“I suppose I am.”

“I am too.” Kassandora. “But until she’s here, there’s nothing we can do, is there? They’ll arrive either way and then Ana will test me.” Arascus sighed.

“I can make her not.” He said.

“I can handle it.” Kassandora said as she tapped her sword. She sighed again and shrugged. “It’s just Anassa.” Arascus shrugged, not even Fer would say that sort of thing. He was about to interrupt when a stone landed between them. They both looked at the rock, then at each other.

Arascus stood up and turned around to look down the cliff. Olephia was there, in her purple dress, smiling up and waving. Arascus waved back as Kassandora stepped close to him. Olephia waved with both hands. “Acting cute doesn’t suit her.” Kassandora said bitterly.

“I think it does.”

“You’ve always been soft-hearted.” Arascus laughed as Olephia pointed back to the camps and north. The Sun was had risen and pushed back the darkness. Kassandora’s own forces were training, Kavaa’s Clerics were being assembled. Arascus found the Goddess of Healing in the crowd as she gave a speech. Olephia threw another stone past them to bring attention to herself. She pointed straight up, then to the camp.

Simple enough, look up.

And so, they looked up.

Three planes in the air, from the north. Olephia waved for them to come down. Arascus lifted into the air and started to float as Kassandora started to float the hill. Joyeuse stabbing into the cliff to slow her fall. Olephia already had her note prepared, she held it up for Arascus and Kass to read. Is it them? It is them, isn’t it? Ana’s back, isn’t she?

Arascus looked away and towards one of the planes. Two figures jumped from the air. One fell towards the ground like a rock, the other slowly walked through the air along opaque crimson stairs that materialized before her. “Look.” He pointed up at that figure in her red dress. The stairs behind her transformed into butterflies that burned away into red flames like flickering torches.

Anassa knew how to make an entrance.