H8

We marched North into Taulantii Territory as September dwindled away to a handful of days. Every now and again we would come across signs of raiders looking for forage and plunder. An overturned oxcart by the side of the trail, a farm that had seen its chickens stolen there, nothing too terrible this far South. However, we did not come across any raiding parties on our march. Bardyllis' men had the good sense to stay away from our army while they were dispersed into dozens of small raiding parties. At the same time, our scouts brought word of half a dozen small bands of Taulantii Soldiers, having fled from the fighting and made their way to the relatively unscathed South of Taulantii Territory. Most were Spearmen, with padded cloth or leather armor, but some were slingers, with naught but a tunic and small, round, shield for armor. All of them were more tribal than the Thureophorai the Byllones had brought to bear.

We gathered up these stragglers in bands as small as 30 men and as large as a hundred, trying to instill some discipline into their ranks as we marched, a fraught prospect at the best of times. Soon, however, word of our arrival reached the rest of Taulanti Territory, and we made camp north of the Apsus River some 60 miles south of the Taulantii capital of Tirkanos. While we were encamped, I drilled those slingers and spearmen we had collected on our route of march relentlessly. Their lack of discipline had caused them to break and run after the defeat at the Drilon and I would not have them do so when we faced Bardyllis again outside Tiirkanos.

As we drilled in camp, even more, broken bands of Taulantii troops found their way to our camp from across the southern half of the Taulantii Kingdom. As they came, I sent them to drill as well. Spearmen in cloth and leather were drilled to keep formation in the face of an enemy charge, slingers were drilled in when to stand and when to break off. By the time I was ready to march again some 3 weeks later, we had collected a further 2,000 Illyrian Spearmen and 500 Illyrian Sliingers that had been drilled to the best of our ability in the time we had. By now it was the end of the 2nd week of October and I could no longer delay continuing the march. I ordered the men to break camp and prepare to move out. Striking camp took 4 hours and by the time we were ready to move out, something I was not expecting happened.

Riders in iron breastplates bearing the Pegasus Standard of Epidamnos approached the column as we were just getting underway. I rode out to meet them, taking a small bodyguard with me and leaving Astios and my Generals to oversee the column. As I got closer, I could see that these were men equipped for war, rather than parade ground envoys. Their breastplates bore none of the decoration you'd expect for envoys and were a simple iron cuirass, their lances were unbaited and unadorned with any pennants, and they rode in a disciplined formation as if expecting to have to fight at any time. As I rode up to meet with them, their leader, a man with a scar across his face raised his right hand in greeting.

"King Pyrrhus! I bring you greetings from the City of Epidamnos! The Council of City Fathers heard that Pyrrhus and his army had marched into Taulantii territory to bring an end to the Invasion of Bardyllis. Is this true?" Asked their Leader.

"It is! I come to honor the memory of Glaucias, who was a friend to Epirus and to save his Kingdom from the greed of the Dardanian Tyrant!" I called back.

"And to make of his son, Epulon a client, no doubt?" Asked the Leader.

I frowned at this, sure, that was one of the goals, but to just come out and say it?

"Epulon is a friend of Epirus. Epirus aids her friends." I replied.

"A friend who cannot defend his Kingdom without Epirus' aid. Come now, we both know what this is. So to do the City Fathers of Epidamnos. Pyrrhus comes to rout the Dardanians to make Southern Illyria his dominion. The City Fathers bid me tell you that they shall consent to your rule on certain conditions, King Pyrrhus." Said the Leader.

I frowned at that, Epidamnos had eventually submitted to Pyrrhus IOTL, but not this soon. Something was up, especially if this was the type of messenger the Oligarchs would send. "I see. Supposing that dominion were indeed my aim, what conditions have Epidamnos?" I asked.

"Condition the first, the City Fathers are entrusted to rule in Epidamnos in your name. They are to retain power as middlemen between yourself and the people of Epidamnos. On their deaths, the arrangement is to be kept by their and your successors." Replied the Leader.

That wasn't too onerous, and honestly, so long as they didn't do anything stupid, I was content with keeping on the Oligarchs as local officials for Epidamnos. "Agreed, next?" I asked

"Condition the second, an Epirote Garrison must be installed in Epidamnos to aid the City Fathers in keeping the peace." Continued the Leader.

This made more sense. If the Oligarchs smelled another coup on the wind coming, that would definitely be a cause for them to submit to my rule. If they thought they could somehow use my backing to bludgeon their political rivals, that was one thing, but if they could use a garrison I installed in there to do the same, that was another. Still, it was in my interest to back them on this, since they were signing over the city to me.

"Agreed. What else?" I asked.

"Epidamnos must not be too heavily taxed. We are a poor city surrounded by barbarians with little enough in the way of wealth. No more than 1 part out of 100 in tax on trade, land, or other incomes may be levied in times of peace, with no more than 2 and a half parts out of 100 in tax on trade, land, or other incomes in time of war." Finished the Leader.

Taxes in Epirus Proper were slightly higher than that, at 1.5 percent on trade, land, and other incomes in peacetime and 3 percent in times of war, but not enough to cause friction or revolt. "Agreed. Tell the City Fathers that I accept their terms for their submission and that I expect Epidamnos' Army to march to Tikranos to help me put an end to Bardyllis." I replied.

The leader of the Horsemen, saluted, and soon they were riding away. My bodyguard and I rode back to join the column on our continuing march North. As my army marched 4 more days north, the walls of Tikranos came into view. The stone walls were coated in white lime plaster to try and emulate the look of the great marble monuments of the Hellenistic world. The city itself was a rather more standard affair, with stone and brick buildings, an agora filled with wooden stalls showcasing wares, and a white lime plaster coated palace complex built into the side of one of the hills that rose out of the plain. All in all, it was more Hellenized than I expected, probably due to proximity to Epidamnos. I suspected the further out from the capital you got, the less Hellenized and more Rustic the towns and villages became.

As my army marched out onto the plain, the gates of Tikranos opened and a messenger came riding out with a missive. As I opened and read the missive, my eyes widened in shock. It seemed that Epulon, in a foolish attempt to avenge his prior defeat, had mustered the remnants of his army, some 8,500 troops, to attack the raider bands operating in the east of Taulantii territory. He had done this yesterday and was by now a day ahead of us, marching to his doom.

"The fool! Could he not have waited one more day?" Asked Astios, shocked.

"Impatience does seem to be a habit of his. I hope he can avoid death long enough for us to reach him. He won't get the chance to grow out of it otherwise." I replied.

So we began our chase of Epulon, hoping that Bardyllis hadn't annihilated his force before we arrived to save him. We would meet up 2 days march later on the shores of Lake Ohrid.

When we did, Bardyllis would not be far behind. . .