As warlord of the immense Empire army, Grammith had a responsibility not to be underestimated. Back when the hostile dwarves had captured the Empire Capital and the Empire was on the brink of falling, the main factor that could save the state was passing the military leadership to one hands. Which is often easier said than done, for the choice of that pair of hands, of that one candidate whose iron will would recover the country was to be made once and without error.
When the war ended in favour of Empire forces who managed to drive the dwarves out of their lands beyond the Bear Mountain and off into the sea, many citizens glorified Her Majesty, even more sang praises of gratitude to the Twin Gods, but the military forces knew well whose merit it truly was. The Heroes of Empire under brilliant and faultless command of Knight Grammith snatched the victory out of short crafty hands of the dwarves, so Grammith's succession of military leadership was a matter of weeks. Later, when the belligerents became allies, the two leaders, Kalirosh and Tolgar, became close friends.
Since that time, the Knight took his duties more seriously than the court was even expecting him to; he was constantly modeling and redesigning the army formations in his head. Very often he was seen at all kinds of tournaments with a notebook taking memos that he would allow no one to see. His frequent inspections of the state of the military proved very well his utmost interest in perfecting the forces of the Empire, and kept his reputation high among them.
The arrival of friendly overseas fugitives opened great opportunities for the warlord, and he did not fail to use them. Grieved by the fact that the military councilor had perished in the cataclysm (although, safe to assume, greatly impressed by his heroic sacrifice), he still found the company of Knight Kalirosh very fruitful for exchanging leadership experience. Thrilled by the fact of close kinship, by great manners and average amiability of the overseas veteran, he could often be seen in his company on those days during the first month after Exodus.
On that day the Knights spent hours in conversations about the warfare and military formations, and Grammith drew several interesting conclusions for his future plans. The sun had already begun to set towards the horizon when the two, exhausted by the communication, were parting. Grammith, with some ideas of slight re-balancing of the factions' troops, thanked Kalirosh for partnership.
Partnership! Shaking Kalirosh's hand, he immediately conceived his next move. It was a certain way to impress the overseas lords and ladies: he planned a tournament which, acknowledged by Kalirosh, the lost Empire had never hosted. Kalirosh understood that the lordship was subject to intensive test; Grammith was likely to be instructed by the Empress to analyse whether or not the sudden allies could be reliable strength to reinforce the Empire, and tournaments were an effective way to do that. |
