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Crimson fires raged all around him, the sky blackened with the smoke, and the air thick with ash making it hard to breathe and filling his mouth with a taste like what he imagined charcoal would taste like if it was eaten. Screams of anger, hate, fright and wails of despair echoed throughout the city, overtones of the discordant harmony of noise that reverberated in the background. Soldiers with large sacs of loot emerged from houses to both sides of the street, wandering systematically in an attempt to find what those who had been there before them might have missed. Those down in their luck and those who'd got bored with looting were taking their way with the women of the city, not all of whom had finished their childhood. Frankly, he was disgusted by this cruel treatment and sacking of the city, but he knew moral had to be kept high and there was nothing he could do to stop it, most of these men had joined for this reason alone. Ignoring the shouts and calls of those soldiers, he made his way up to the inner gate and the area set aside for the officers. His face was still caked in blood from the battle and dark shadows around his eyes betrayed that he hadn't slept since, God when had he slept, it was too long, whatever the case. Lost in his thoughts his feet carried him automatically to his goal, navigating the crumbled ruins of the recently mighty city. There was less damage here in the inner city, set as it was upon a hill and out of reach of the catapults used nearer the perimeter, he located the surgeons tent by the two thick red bands running around the tent. A note on the rankings of armies, the Lord commands the army of a District (7 districts in the Domain of Felaria) although he is advised by Generals, each having 3 Commanders under them, 5 Major-Generals under them, 7 Majors under them. Each Major commands a force of 1000 men, 700 of whom are fighters, split into groups of 70 under the command of a Captain each. Whether infantry or cavalry depends upon the unit, the other men include cooks, medical staff, quatermasters, errand boys, fletchers, farriers, blacksmiths etc. Thus attacking Felar there were 73,500 fighting men under the command of 3 Commanders. ******* From her vantage point on the hill, she could see the whole city. The wide streets where once merchants and townsfolk alike had strolled were intruded upon by the wreckage of homes and occassionaly a body, missed by the patrols sent out to remove such corpses and prevent the spread of disease. The main body of the city was built upon a flat valley floor, around this were hills, which had hidden the invaders from the sight of the watchers in the towers, this part of the city was newest, although this was only relative seeing as it was built over 400 years ago. In the midst of this, a hill rose, steep on three sides, but a sheer cliff face and 200 foot drop on the southern face. On this, the old city had been built, 2000 years ago the locals claimed, although more realistically only 1000. Being surrounded by tall walls, said to be impregnable and never before captured, it commanded a view across the southern plains, from where the Lords of old had extended their reach across the largest singe domain seen for 200 years through conquest and diplomacy, and in the height of their power had manned Felar, city of 2 million people with a garrisson of 200 thousand : garrissoned by only 10 thousand 10 hours ago.
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