# Act 1 — “Smoky Horizons”
> **Chapter 1 — Slash-and-Burn**
>
> *Out. Rhemtoil Village — Morning (1082 <span class="smallcaps">at</span>)*
>
> (Two horsemen arrive at Rhemtoil.)
> **GARIOS**
>
> “Here we are...”
>
> (Scans around—brows raise.)
>
> “Smell that? Got to say, you majesty—no matter how much I come here, I’ll never be use to the Battanian’s *distinct* smell.”
>
> (Plunges down from his saddle.)
>
> “Ash, mud—and a potent stink of shit. That’s what they live in. By the Heavens… there’s a river right there—do they even use it?”
> **ARENICOS**
>
> “It’s not at all that distinctive. Farms smell like this. Though I admit, it’s *stronger* than I remembered—think I feel a headache coming on.”
>
> (Carefully descends his horse.)
>
> “Back then hiding in the woods, I had to’ve blotted it out. Avoiding search parties must’ve consumed all my senses. I always thought a confident step could be a curse… Heavy-footed, I am—had I been born a thief I’d been damned.”
> **GARIOS**
>
> (Smiling, he nods.)
>
> “Hmm. You and I both.”
> **ARENICOS**
>
> (He shivers.)
>
> “Hate coming back here. It’s giving me conniptions.”
> **GARIOS**
>
> “Really? I feel just the opposite.”
> **ARENICOS**
>
> “Do conniptions have an opposite?”
>
> (Garios shoots him a look, he grins slyly.)
> **GARIOS**
>
> “Battania is like a women who after drinking becomes utterly impassioned. Speaking without omission. Those are the best women to bed. In truth, a carnal pleasure is no pleasure if the work’s easy. They fended off our advance once before, old friend—not this time.”
> **ARENICOS**
>
> “Hate to interrupt your fantasy, you old bull, but unlike you I know an *unwanted* advance when I see one. They get the message. Our being here is just a warning. Besides, there’s no reward here—just bad memories.”
> **GARIOS**
>
> (Sighing audibly. The villagers begin burning away forest, performing the slash-and-burn method of farming.)
>
> “(…) Here we go...”
> **ARENICOS**
>
> “Go—what?”
> **GARIOS**
>
> “You—always opting for the safest path forward. One which costs nothing but gains nothing. They say you can’t teach an old hound new tricks, I’ve always disagreed with that, but with you, Arenicos—that saying may prove true.”
> **ARENICOS**
>
> “I’m choosing peace, Garios.”
> **GARIOS**
>
> “Peace with whom? Savages who beat headman and steal cattle?”
> **ARENICOS**
>
> “So—what?! Mix it up then? Beat up their cows—spirit away their headman?”
> **GARIOS**
>
> “We take this opportunity and run with it.”
> **ARENICOS**
>
> “War..? That’s what you’re saying?”
> **GARIOS**
>
> “It’d align with what you *say* you believe.”
> **ARENICOS**
>
> “You know about what I believe.”
> **GARIOS**
>
> “Do I?”
> **ARENICOS**
>
> “Veteran’s will get land, I gave you my word. But to do that we need strength. Unifying the Empire and refilling the treasury takes priority right now, not starting another war.”
> **GARIOS**
>
> “War, my friend—is the only way we’ll get these things. How else do you think our predecessors did it?”
> **ARENICOS**
>
> (Rubbing his temples.)
>
> “And there it is—I was right! My head is starting to throb now...”
> **GARIOS**
>
> “The Heavens throw you a bone and you let it fall past you. Eventually you’re going to have to do *something*, Arenicos—we can’t sit idle forever. The tides of war are upon us, whether you *choose* to see that or not.”
> **ARENICOS**
>
> “For Calros’ sake, man! You make it out like they sieged the capital and burned it to the ground! All they did was take some cows.”
> **GARIOS**
>
> “All they did? All they did!? They insulted the Empire is what they did. The Battanians have started a trend and next time the Sturgians may join in on it.”
> **ARENICOS**
>
> “Alright fine—you’re right. I’ve, *maybe*, sat longer on this than I should’ve. And you’re right to council me. You offer a vital and deeply revealing perspective on this issue and I shan’t disregard it. But right now it’s still early, I must speak to the senate before any decision.”
> **GARIOS**
>
> “Oh please. Your majesty, listen—if you live your life under the whims of those effeminate snakes, you won’t be the master of your own destiny—it’ll be fear. If there’s one thing I admired about Emperor Neretzes, it was his conviction.”
> **ARENICOS**
>
> “You admired *Neretzes*? Maybe you’re coming down with something too...”
> **GARIOS**
>
> “Some called him stubborn, but I thought him honorable in its purest form. He knew living and ruling were one in the same. Both requires conviction. Making a plan and sticking with it.”
> **ARENICOS**
>
> “Yes all well and good, Garios, but that was his greatest flaw too. He’d rather march hundreds to their *deaths* than admit he was wrong. He also left quite a hole in the royal coffers. It’s like he never realized mobilizing all the armies of the Empire would be expensive. The treasury was virtually empty when he died. Now here I am, five years later, still working to refill them.”
>
> (Looking to Garios, whose pinching the bridge of his nose.)
>
> “Am I wrong?”
> **GARIOS**
>
> “Wrong wouldn’t be the word, Arenicos—*cowardly* would be more fitting.”
> **ARENICOS**
>
> “Tch. No, war right now would only create far more issues than it’d solve—it wouldn’t even be just.”
> **GARIOS**
>
> “Just? There’s no such thing. If justice existed then Lucon would be dead, Rhagaea deported, Sturgia and Battania turned to dust, Vlandia would relinquish our land, and the Aserai and Khuzaits would flee back into their homelands. Listen to reason, waiting around—doing nothing, is worse than any blunder Neretzes *ever* made. You need to do what is best, Arenicos! And often that is by *force*. Not this imaginary ‘peace’ you envision. I’m sorry, but that dream of yours is moonshine! What would our ancestors think if they ever heard you talk like this?”
> **ARENICOS**
>
> “Well, I read one say: ‘(they) prefer the most unjust peace to the most just war’—I’d think they’d approve.”
> **GARIOS**
>
> “Heavens above, Arenicos… Never’ve I seen a man fight so valiantly for his brothers, only to give up on them when faced by children swinging sticks. In war, what kills most men is not the melee, but what happens when the melee ends; when a line breaks and all flee. *Fear* kills the most men.”
>
> (Kneeling.)
>
> “You majesty, please… Give the word. Reinstate the Legions and we can revitalize the Empire.”
> **ARENICOS**
>
> “I’m sorry, Garios… but I’ll not rush to make more widows, madmen, beggars and orphans—like hatred for the Empire—there is enough as is.”
> **GARIOS**
>
> (Climbing back to his feet.)
>
> “Well… I tried.”
>
> (Boarding his horse.)
>
> “When I heard you’d got rid of the Legions, I justified it to myself: ‘No he’s not losing his mind. It’s temporary—just saving money. He’ll see reason, I need only shed light on it.’ And riding here with you I had to try. I thought about all you might say and how I’d respond, as if I were strategizing before a great battle. I imagined a few outcomes which worried me. But the thought which disturbed me most of all, old friend—was if it did not matter what happens here today… That nothing could sway you. You’re not naïve; It’s all clear to me now, you’re are not even willfully-ignorant, as that would be preferable to the far more terrible truth—you’re *broken*. You fought so hard to avoid shattering the Empire again that it shattered you. And worse yet, you may not live long enough to ever see that…”
>
> (He leaves. Arenicos stands alone. A leaf from the burning brush gets kicked up by the wind. Landing on a thatched roof. A small fire has started.)
## End of Scene 1