Syra stepped back into the shadows of the main hall, her gaze fixed on the massive parchment map unrolled across a stone table. "Tarnstead is not a unified front," she noted, tracing a gloved finger across the eastern border drawn in faded ink.
"It is a coalition consisting of more than ten individual kingdoms, each ruling over countless smaller cities and towns. Mapping an empire of this scale will take time."
Rubedo studied the expansive geography through his monitor, using his visual link with Syra to examine the parchment.
The sprawling eastern territories presented a logistical nightmare. Launching a blind invasion into a web of ten interconnected kingdoms would scatter his forces and leave his supply lines vulnerable.
He needed precise intelligence on every single faction before moving his army.
"We do not march until we know the layout of every city," Rubedo instructed Syra. "Use the newly hatched Amber-Hive drones. Deploy them across the border."
