"Where did you find this Drow, brother?" Birch needled Willow for an answer, "He is quite eloquent in his speech. Are all of his ilk like him?"

"We ran across each other during my travels beyond the city of Storm Haven." Willow honestly replied, "And though he is quite good with his words, I doubt all of his ilk are like him. I have only allied myself with two Dark Elves in all my travels. Captain Irzen is one of them and the other, well, she's more of a pest than a friend."

"I see," Birch nodded, "So the female of their species are pests while the male of their species are not. INTERESTING!"

The elementalist tried her hardest to stifle a giggle but it slipped out at Prince Birch's reply to the ranger, "Hehehe!"

"Something amuses you, my lady?" Princess Cauladra turned towards the Elementalist.

Alyson merely nodded, "Prince Birch's assessment of drow is rather accurate, your highness. The other," She paused glancing over in an inconspicuous individual recording history off to the side for a moment, "Prince Willow was referring to is a certain chronicler of Validor."

"A Drowling is a Chronicler of Validor?!" Princess Cauladra replied to Alyson's response in pure disbelief, "Has the Order of Validor fallen so far that they had to recruit such creatures as that?!"

Meanwhile, War Scribe merely giggled in glee as she continued to record all of the events as they transpired.

The king strode forward away from his throne and lead the party to another room with a large table made of the hardest black oak anyone had seen. On its surface was the complete map of his domain. Red flags indicated where the horde was in relation to the capital.

Irzen studied the map for a quiet minute before he began, "In my long years of combat Sunrider, Elven King, I have learned that you Surface Elves know only how to fight symmetrically. You typically attack your enemies in the Stag battle formation lining up your armies against your opponents in an effort to either out-flank them or break their ranks through a direct assault. Gruummasht knows this and will expect such an attack. What I propose is that you strike at his forces asymmetrically or fight them as we Drow would by striking at them not only from the front but also from the rear, above and below."

"Based upon the size of the Horde and the current placement and number of our troops, I see only four options before us: Encirclement, Press Attack, Siege and Retreat," The Swordsman began as he addressed everyone while occassionally pointing at the table to reinforce every point he would make, "Option one: Encirclement. There is an open plain that leads to the capitol city. That plain is big enough to house a horde as large as Grummasht's army. However, that plain also sits on a valley floor with at least five different mountain passes leading into it. We know Grummasht's forces are marching up from the Southern Valley. What I propose is that you take your infantry, line them up a mile outside of the city make them two rows deep and as wide as the valley walls themselves. The horde will come directly at them. When they do, move your cavalry through the passes and encircle them on their flanks. As they press forward towards the city, the infantry will give a little ground to them but not fully break ranks. By doing so, you will create a circle of death which you will close with your cavalry and infantry. And then the fun will begin! You can strafe them from the air with dragon fire while your Hill Dwarven and Gnomish allies act as sappers and dig holes in the ground beneath the horde. And while that is going in, the Archers from the capitol will rain arrows down upon them in wave after wave after wave. The good news is that if you employ this strategy you will avoid civilian casualties and Grummasht will be unable to offensively use the bulk of his army which will be bottled up inside the circle. Another bit of good news is that he will not expect this attack because he has probably planned for a siege instead. The bad news is that your military casualties are going to be very high. Even if we win, our victory might be a Phyrric one at best."

"Option two: Press Attack," Irzen continued unabated, "You keep half the infantry and all of the archers behind the city walls. The other half of the infantry and the entire calvary will flank the horde from the mountain passes. By getting behind the horde and along its sides, your forces will press and drive the attack against the Orcs until their backs are up against the city walls itself. You will still strafe them from the air with dragon fire. And you still let your sappers do their work. But the focus of your attack will be to break their ranks against the walls of the city like waves crashing against the rocks of a reef. The good news is that this strategy will reduce the number of military casualties we will suffer. The bad news is that everything will depend upon the strength of the city's defenses. If the horde has siege engines and they breach the gates or the wall, the battle will be over and you will lose everything. Another downside to this strategy is that civilian casualties will be high."

"Option three: Siege," The Swordsman added, "You pull all of your forces back to the capitol, lock the gates, man the walls and force Grummasht to lay siege to you. You can still strafe his horde from the air with dragon fire and have your sappers lay traps throughout the plain. But this strategy is nothing fancy or new. You will wait Grummasht out until he gives up or retreats. The good news is that this strategy offers a maximum level of protection for the denizens of the capitol. The bad news is that Gruummasht is expecting this strategy and both civilian and military casualties will be high, we have no idea how long a siege would last and if the wall is breached then we could lose everything. It's an all or nothing strategy."

"Option four: Retreat," Irzen confessed, "We empty the capitol and let Grummasht take the city. We have all civilians go north while your military takes the mountain passes and double back on the Orcs. When Grummasht's forces have taken the city, you have your sappers set traps throughout the capitol and set them off when he and his Orcs arrive. As they are dealing with your traps, we can have our dragons strafe the entire city until not a single stone stands. Then our forces will attack Grummasht's guys on their flanks and rears and sweep up those who survive the destruction of the capitol. The good news is that we would avoid any civilian casualties. The bad news is that our military casualties could be high and Northaven would lose its capitol. Sustained dragonfire on the order of what we would need to cook Grummasht's forces inside of the city would turn the capitol into a smoldering ruin."

"Retreat?!" Sunrider stared at the swordsman in sheer disbelief, "Surely, you over-estimate their chances of victory at my people's annihilation?"

"It is merely an option to consider, Sunrider Elven King," Irzen held up his hands, "Nothing more and nothing less than that."

"We can win with any of the strategies that I have just mentioned," Irzen concluded, "Or you can come up with one of your own. But you have to select a strategy that you feel comfortable employing and I leave that decision up to you, Sunrider Elven King."

"Lord Drow, your assessment of our military situation is BRILLIANT!" Birch strode up to Irzen, shook his hand and clapped him on the shoulder, "You, my noble sir, are a credit to your race!"

"Gee, thanks." Irzen replied sarcastically as he gave a look at Willow.

Alyson just sighed and hoped that Prince Birch was just as enthusiastic in battle when the time came.

Finally Lazheros stepped forward and as he did the Alter self spell he cast earlier to lead help with Captain Andaerean and his company faded in full view of everyone. No longer was there an elf but the bronze man. "My apologies for the deception but it was necessary to remain untouched by the Huorns wrath against the skirmish with horde. Captain Irzen had come up with a similar strategy back in Westfall with some minor changes there were very few causalities. The end result drove the enemy back and the return of Prince Yew but more importantly the warlord, Gruumasht is NOT alone, under his command is a half-orc, Barakas. Once a mere torturer, now turned warlock-necromancer, so even if you slay the forces of the enemy, make very sure that fiend cannot raise an army of undead to throw at any of you."

"YOU?! ARE THE BRONZE MAN OF LEGEND!?!" Prince Birch clapped his hands against his forehead in pure disbelief, "NO WAY! OUTSTANDING!!!" The wayward prince immediately seized Lazheros hand and shook it so vigorously that the Cleric thought his arm might fall off, "It is an honor to meet you, noble dragon! AN HONOR INDEED!!!"

Alyson and Captain Lion felt like they had just witnessed a very awkward scene unfold before eyes.

Sunrider and Ash let an audible gasp in the presence of the Cleric of Bahamut. The king had heard many a tale of the Bronze Man and his travels with the legendary champion, Madeous Khyng . "Well, it would seem that my sons have made many allies in their journeys through the long years. Your aid is most welcome!"

The crown prince stepped forward, "Somehow I knew there was more than meets the eye with you, amandil. None of our people serve, the platinum dragon here, at least not to my knowledge but there are dragonborn that have been seen to the north of Winter Marsh, mostly silver I believe but they won't engage unless given a true reason to."

"Ah, just like their draconic ancestry, silver dragonborn are noble and true, however, I think I can persuade them to come to your aid and it would give Gruumasht and Barakas pause just enough for us to gain the advantage." The bronze man surmised.

"The more our allies grow in number," Irzen added, "The more I like our chances for victory."

"Yes and--!!" The elven king was about to continue when the royal guard captain came bursting in, "What is the meaning of this?"

"Sire!" The royal guard captain gasped, "The Enemy is nearly here! It is nothing like anything I've seen!"

Just then the horns of battle rang throughout the capital entire sending the common folk running into the tunnels, and in the far distance drums, drums of the war and death boomed in the distance.

"Lord Irzen, we shall implement all of the tactics you suggested! To arms, may Corellon Larethian grace us with his might and blessings!"

"But which option, Sunrider Elven King?" The Swordsman asked, "You have neither the time nor the numbers to try them all. Which option are you going to use?"