Roma Invicta RP: Consultation (Huns and Eastern Romans)

[Storm]

The forest was foggy, the air cold and sharp. The dark furs clad the figure, seated upon his horse as he was, as he looked from one side to the other. His shortly cropped hair was pressed against the side of his head, wet from some unknown cause. His horse pawed the ground beneath him. The man was a Hun. More specifically, his name was Attila. He was leader of the Hutt nations. The Huns never held any meetings but for being on horseback, and Attila was duly set up. His second in command, Onegesius, was nearby; he too would be present with this meeting with the Eastern Roman Empire from Constantinople. In addition, his troops were mounted up on the hill above, in case of a backstabbing attack from the Romans. The Romans, however, had no reason to kill Attila. He was not an enemy of the Roman Empire.

At least not yet.

Today would determine the shape of things to come, and as Attila looked around behind him, he spoke a word in his harsh native tongue: Be ready. They were in the Hun homelands, and they controlled the stakes. They did not mean to attack the Romans, and they had made sure that their envoys would not come with a major attack force with which to backstab. Their spies would have made sure of that from the border; if something was amiss, he'd have been told.

He thought he could discern the tightening of bowstrings, but that couldn't be so.

The scent of a nearby dead animal was on the air.

There would be no dead Hun scent to complement it.

 

[Ru the Boatswain]

((We'll assume that we both speak the language Latin and we can simply use English.))

Twelve men, all brave, all noble of birth and mind. Gaius Atellus lead them, his guard, to the Huns. They were from the steppes, where great tribes of horsemen were bred. Some of these men were wise, they would join Constantinople. Others were less wise and would sleep in blood.

His horse was a finely bred Numidian, he'd spent a great fortune to have it brought from the south. The company wore armor suited for their travel and meeting. They were armed reasonably, each man had his own Bow and Sword. One man held the banner, it showed that this was the envoy of the Eastern Roman Empire.

The whinny of restless horses could be heard as they slowed to meet the Huns. The fog hid the ground from Gaius's eyes. It seemed an omen that this was not a place to tread long in. "Hello!" He called in a most proper manner to the Hun before him, he brought his horse forward and raised his arm in greeting. "I am Gaius Atellus."

 

[Rev]

Sniffing the air the rotting corpse tickled his nose hairs. This brought a smile to the second in commands face, for some reason the smell of decaying flesh was something he longed for. Watching the Roman riders approach, Onegesius, couldn't help but wipe that smile away, a look of complete focus, determination, and almost hate came over his face. These men could not be trusted as far as the Hun could throw their weak frail forms.

Onegesius stared at the Eastern Roman leader with disgust, he was an enemy at this point, though he would not lie, he hoped this man would be an ally after their meeting. Looking over his shoulder at the many Huns that awaited a battle to break out, each man would die for their empire, as War Minister it was his job to assure of this. Crossing his arms the heavy broadsword with its unusual bend to it's shiny blade was at his side. One could only imagine what the tool of death would do to a man's body if it was pushed into his flesh, more than likely it would be irreparable. Giving a gruff nod to Gaius, Onegesius, spoke to the stranger.

"Onegesius... Minister and Warlord of the Hun armies."

Motioning to Attila he once again spoke in regards to his leader.

"Attila, leader of the Huns and of our people."

 

[Storm]

((OOC: For IC-ness, some of Attila's speech will grammatically fail, as Latin wouldn't be his best.))

Atilla heard a snigger from nearby at the voice of the pampered Roman, and he himself smiled.

"As my War Minister said," Attila said in his broken Latin, "I am Attila, leader of the Huns. Welcome to our fine land, Gaius Atellus. I am sure that they are vastly inferior to your own, however they will have to do."

Harsh laughter was heard once again at Attila's sneering words.

"Yet we not here to trade words in bout of speech contest," the leader said. "We are here to discuss plans for the benefit of both our nations. Tell me, Gaius Atellus. What does Constantinople hope for from the Huns?"

 

[Ru the Boatswain]

Gaius was tempted to outburst at the sniggers of the illiterate boys at Attila's feet. He let them pass, they were far too dull to understand the seriousness of this situation. He was sure that few of them even understood what the man said.

"Constantinople can offer you wealth beyond what the steppes could hardly imagine. All men who service this great empire are guaranteed wealth and land upon their retirement. You, Attila, would retire to a vast land of your choosing with slaves from your conquest. Joining the empire only serves to strengthen yourselves."

 

[Storm]

"We will not be assimilated into the Roman Empire, Eastern or West."

Attila brought his hand down, hard, on the pommel of his saddle as he said this; they would not be assimilated and mixed until their society and culture was lost and dirtied by the blood of these Romans. The policy of prostituting their Great Nation to the Eastern Roman Empire was needed, for the time being. But it would not be a permanent settlement.

"We would be prepared to work as mercenaries."

The words were short, and to the point; in truth, the Huns in seperate individual groups had been working as mercenaries for the two Empires for some long time; now, however, they'd do it as a nation.

"We will, however, require payment. We would not be prepared to split our forces to over two cities on a large scale; the top most Eastern Roman cities across the river Danube, Viminacium and Margus; we could help guard those, act as border guards to Visigoths. Protect Ranaria too, if wanted."

"Or you have different ideas?"

 

[Ru the Boatswain]

"Nay, I cannot convince you otherwise. But I should say that the steppes would benefit more in joining the Empire." It was cheaper in the long run to have men join you. Mercenaries were costly and only as loyal as gold shined and as salt was more available than ice.

 

[Storm]

"Nonetheless, we will not be doing as such. This is not an issue for you; you have been hiring out, and still do hire out, numerous other tribes, for thousands of years. None of those, except those you crushed in conflict, have ever assimilated into the Roman Empire. This will not be a particularly big change for you." Attila nodded. "If all is, then, satisfactory, I will move my men to the cities within the next three days. It's been pleasure doing business with you."

 

[Ru the Boatswain]

"And so it is, I will see you another day, Attila." His men turned together and with renewed energy started home.