Chapter 3.15: Astarth's Game
You march from Memphis with two thousand soldiers, as Wanketh wished. Sending out all of your forces would have been an open invitation for Avaris and their allies to attack while you were gone, and so some troops had to remain to defend Memphis and the other cities. Hopefully they would be able to hold out if anything happened. You had rejected Kumare's proposal - his shiftiness made you wary. Before he left you managed to place a hand on his bare, left shoulder, but you only managed to read some vague thoughts about Astarth before he smiled at you and walked away.
The journey up the Nile was surprisingly hassle-free, even with the crocodiles around. Astarth made no attempt to stop you from reaching Heracleopolis. When you reached the walls, you saw why.
The walls of Heracleopolis were formidable, built up even taller than that of Akkad. Archers lined the walls, eager and sharp. To storm this city would mean paying the price in blood. You rode to the front of the gate in your chariot, gauging the enemy. The archers held their fire, and a horn sounded. You steeled yourself, wondering if arrows were going to come your way.
To your surprise, the gates open, and a chariot rides out, a large banner flying behind it. A roar rings from the walls. "Hail King Astarth, Pharaoh of all Egypt!"
Astarth had come out to meet you. You wonder if he is here to talk, or fight. His chariot pulls up besides yours - Astarth is flanked by two of his guards on the chariot, while you were alone.
"Runi, I believe? The man who single-handedly brought down Wankare?" He smiled at you. He was a bear of a man; he would have towered even over Samun and Kamun. His grizzled face and scarred body were trophies of decades of battle, and he carried himself with a pose of extreme martial confidence.
"That was the credit of my Pharaoh. What do you have to say to me, Master Astarth?" He laughs, a hearty, roaring laugh. "Oh, don't stand on ceremony. I am here to negotiate the terms of your surrender, and of your future rank in my army."
"What makes you think that I would not just take your head, and your city with it?"
"Because you have lost, just by coming here. By now your Pharaoh should be but a corpse in his bed."
You stare at Astarth. He does not appear to be lying.
"What are you talking about?"
"My men have put a knife in his back... and they prepare to poison Memphis even as we speak."
You lunge forward and put a hand on his neck. His guards immediately raise their weapons, but Astarth orders them to stand down. He continues talking to you in a calm tone. "If we fight here, I fear none of us will escape unscathed. You may even kill me, true, but if I die, Egypt loses its last leader capable of uniting the kingdom. Spare your men a bloody battle. I have use for strong warriors such as you."
You ignore what he says, concentrating on reading his mind. The entirety of Astarth's plan is laid out before you. It seems that after recognizing your prowess, the plan was always to get you out of the city so they could execute their plot. Wanketh would die, and the city's water source poisoned - the blame of the poison would fall on the Pharaoh, whose death would be hidden from the public. Astarth had even prepared scapegoats who would claim to be cultists who had influenced the Pharaoh into doing such mad things. The fear that struck all the other cities would have brought them under Astarth's influence. The plot was targeted at Wankare, but since you brought Wanketh into power, they had to adapt instead.
You curse yourself for not vetting Wanketh's advisors further, but you realize that ever since the battle of Memphis, the Pharaoh, suspicious of you, had been in close counsel with them - you had not seen them at all until the day of the meeting itself. You had thought this a direct war of subjugation... but Astarth did not see it that way.
"Why do you look so surprised? Did you think me some dumb brute, a dictator who ruled his city through force of arms? Join my army, Runi, and you will be second only to me."
"Do you think I would join with a man who has just killed an entire city?"
"But I haven't. My men prepare to poison Memphis, yes, but they will not do so for two more days I can cancel that order, my messengers just await my command. You are powerful - if you bow to me, I will have enough strength to conquer Egypt swiftly, and no need to poison the city."
He is telling the truth. The man had set up a relay of messengers all along the Nile - he could get a message to Memphis within a day or two.
***
A. Your hand still on his neck, you scramble his mind. You cannot suffer such a man to live. Taking advantage of the confusion over his sudden collapse, you ride back to your army, and sound the order for a retreat. If you ride downstream ahead of the army, you might be able to reach Memphis before they execute their plan.
B. You kill Astarth by breaking his neck, and while his men are in shock from the loss of their leader, you get your troops to take the city. You will not make it back in time to save Memphis, but by doing this you will set yourself up in a position of power to take over Egypt yourself.
C. You accede to Astarth's demands, and agree to be his right hand man. He is correct in that his rule would be able to unite Egypt, and is that not what you have been fighting for?
D. You agree to surrender to Astarth, but that night you sneak out, back to Memphis, once you are certain the order to prevent the poisoning has been given out. Astarth can have Egypt, but certain advisors to Wanketh are to die for their betrayal. and you plan to extract your comrades from the city to prevent Astarth from getting his hands on them.
