Wilbur

L'Manberg's military force consists of three parts with their own responsibilities and missions.

The largest part of the military is the army. They are the foot soldiers and generals that unite to protect L'Manberg from internal threats during times of peace, and external threats during times of war. There is at least one major fort in every subarea of L'Manberg, and the soldiers patrol every corner of the nation. When people enlist into L'Manberg's military, they are usually put into the army in various positions. The army is further divided by locations and job requirements, but it was collectively known as the Van Army.

The Royal Guard is another part of the military. A group of highly trained and extremely loyal soldiers work together to protect the royal palace and the royals themselves. The Royal Guard does not answer to anyone other than the royals, and their king or queen holds the final say in every decision they make. The head of the Royal Guard (currently Captain Sparklez) is the third most powerful person in the country (after the reigning monarch and the crown prince or princess). The captain is responsible for organizing security for every palace owned by the royal family, and making sure things run smoothly when the royals decide to venture outside of the palaces.

The last part of the military is the International Soldiers. In a few of L'Manberg's treaties, they agreed to send a certain number of soldiers to that nation to assist in military training and protecting civilians from internal threats. The International Soldiers are loyal to the L'Manberg and the treaties they work under. In times of war, the International Soldiers are not allowed to participate. Should L'Manberg find themselves in a time of war, the International Soldiers are recalled to assist in the conflict. They will be sent back out after the war is over.

The three parts of the military answer to the monarch of the L'Manberg, and they do not interfere with each other's work. No branch is more important than the other because all three branches make sure that L'Manberg runs smoothly. It is a system that has been around for ages, since the original creation of L'Manberg with Wilhelm and Theseus.

Wilbur stares down at his map of the world, his fingers hovering over each caricature meant to represent something much larger. The army and the Royal guard were currently fighting in the war, following Wilbur's commands. A handful of royal guardsmen had stayed behind to protect Wilbur specifically, but he had sent most of them to the frontlines to assist in the war effort. Captain Sparklez had disagreed with this decision for no monarch had ever sacrificed their Royal Guard for the sake of a war, but Wilbur insisted. Each member of the Royal Guard was worth at least ten foot soldiers. Captain Sparklez was the smartest tactician and strongest warrior to ever assume the mantle of general over the army. If Wilbur wanted to end this war with as little casualties as possible, it was necessary that he took actions his predecessors would disapprove of.

There was another reason this decision was made. The International Soldiers may have returned to their homeland, but most were siding with Manberg instead of Pogtopia. Wilbur could not pretend he did not know why. The International Soldiers, by the very nature of their position, did not spend the majority of their life in their home. They were soldiers who were forced to live in forgein locations, most of the time with hostile prejudice against them. The younger soldiers could make a life for themselves in distant lands, learning how to love their new homes and maybe start a family. The older soldiers, however, had families in L'Manberg that they were forced to be away from. They could not visit their families, and it was difficult to send and receive news from their homes. If an International Soldier died, it could be years before their family received a notice, and they hardly ever had a body to bury. It was the same the other way around. The International Soldiers had no way of knowing news from L'Manburg. They did not know if they had new children or siblings, or if someone dear to them had married or died. Schlatt made the promise that when he became king, the International Guard would be permanently abolished. All the soldiers would be recalled and sent home. Was that beautiful promise of home to wayward souls not something worth fighting for?

Wilbur understood their frustration, but he could not make the same promise as Schlatt. The International Soldiers were a vital part in many of the treaties L'Manberg signed when they were scrambling for their independence. Even if Wilbur tried to rework the treaties, he would only be able to come to some sort of compromise on the subject with a few countries, and how was that fair to all the other soldiers? More than that, the International Soldiers were a critical part of many underdeveloped country's peace. Snowchester, for instance, was a country of scientists and magicians. They were incredibly intelligent, but they could not defend against the multitude of monsters in the area. The International Soldiers presence helped protect Snowchester's people, and their presence pressured Snowchester into obligating their part of the treaty. This ensured that L'Manberg received the benefits of all of Snowchester's scientific and magical breakthroughs.

Wilbur wondered, briefly, how Schlatt was planning on abolishing the International Soldiers and maintaining the treaties of L'Manberg if he were to win the war. Schlatt would need to establish his own treaties if Manberg became an independent nation or took over the land of Pogtopia. What would Schlatt attempt to do, and how would the other countries respond? Was Schlatt even telling the truth when he said he would abolish the International Soldiers?

"What are you thinking so hard about?" A voice coaxed Wilbur out of his thoughts the same way being splashed with cold water would shock someone awake. Wilbur's head whipped upward to see his mother, Samantha, standing at the flaps of his tent. Wilbur had explicitly told his guards not to allow anyone to enter, but it seemed they weren't quite sure if Samantha was part of 'anyone'. She was the dowager queen. The guards could not say anything to her unless Wilbur had very definitively stated he did not wish to see her.

"I am once again going over tomorrow's strategy. I must make sure that I am not sending my men into a trap," Wilbur told her, turning his eyes back to his map instead of looking at her. It felt too strange and unnatural for her to be there right in front of him. He would have suspected this to be a fantasy, but the atmosphere was too grim for a dream and too real for a nightmare. Samantha was simply there. She was alive with the capability of speaking and thinking and moving of her own violation. The curse that ensnared her for a long time was just gone, and all it took was the mystical touches of two strangers from the southern lands.

"You have truly become a wise and compassionate king," Samantha muttered wistfully. Wilbur found himself staring down at his shaking hand. He closed his fingers into a fist to hide the fact that he was trembling. Although Wilbur had spent years waiting for his mother to awaken, she didn't experience that long stretch of time. She was frozen in time as much as she was frozen in a literal sense. For her, one moment she was looking down upon a festive party. The next moment she was looking at a ballroom filled with strangers with worried expressions and wide eyes. The last she remembered, Wilbur was a little boy who was trying to sneak some cookies from the snack table. Now, he was a grown man who had been the ruler over the country for many years. He was now a general, defending his nation from a civil war that escalated into a world war.

"Thank you for your compliment... Mother. Is there a reason you have arrived?" Wilbur asked her, finally gaining the courage to look up at her. She was exactly how he remembered her from before the curse. She had silvery blonde hair that shimmered like steel in the light. She possessed the iciest blue eyes Wilbur had ever seen, and the irony was not lost on him. His mother looked so different from him, but he could find their similarities if he truly looked. While his father provided his hair and eye colors, Wilbur gained almost everything else from his mother. They shared the same nose, eye shape, chin, and smile. She had given him an appreciation for the arts and taught him how to play many instruments. Her final gift to her son was his magic. Although her powers came from a Fae blessing, she somehow passed it down to Wilbur in a much stronger form.

"I simply wanted to speak to my son. You have been cooped up in this tent for so long that I was beginning to worry you would never come out. Phil has been wonderful company, but he has taken an interest in that woman from Business Bay. I have left him to woo her by his lonesome," Samantha told him with her smile rising to her face to crinkle her eyes. Wilbur found himself slightly smiling in return out of habit. Samantha continued, "Perhaps you should explain to me the war situation. I am working under the understanding that we are in a civil war that has become much more. No one will tell me more than that. I believe they fear for my mental state. I can see their reasoning; However, I am perfectly capable of sound reasoning. I understand that many years have passed, but I have not. I am as sane as I was before I was cursed."

She spoke about it much more easily than Wilbur ever could. He would always choke around the words. He would always feel something in his soul start to shake with such ferocity that the rest of his body would follow suit. His heart would burn like coals plucked from a fire as his skin crawled like slime slipping across paper. Samantha seemed to not experience such reservations. The gravity had probably not settled, and Wilbur knew that she would never feel the same way as everyone around her. They all had to wait for her to wake up. She experienced nothing in that interval of time.

"Earlier this year, Duke Jay Schlatt proclaimed that he would no longer follow the rule of L'Manberg. He had been secretly planning a coup for many years. He had built himself a mighty army, and he had become allies with the Greater kingdom. After I was forced to exile him for treason, those who were against me being king finally defected. I was almost thrown from the castle, but I managed to stay alive by hiding in the canyons of Pogtopia. That is where we are now. Our side is called Pogtopia, and Schlatt's side is called Manberg," Wilbur told his mother, barely paying attention to her as he focused on something he was certain he knew. He pointed across the map at different countries. "As we were gathering forces, Schlatt was able to persuade the Badlands into entering the war on his side. I am not sure how he has done this, but I later received word from Grand Duke Sam of the Badlands that the King and Prince Consort are both under an enchanter's curse. I believe that enchanter is someone sent by Schlatt in order to obtain the Badland's military. Luckily, Grand Duke Sam has agreed to help us under some conditions: we must not kill his king, the prince consort, the crown prince, or Sam's cursed daughter, Hannah.

"We have also received the help of the Antarctic Empire. They have sent the Blade, their strongest warrior, ahead. Their army will be here shortly to assist in the fighting. We have Snowchester's help due to the nature of many of our treaties. It isn't much manpower-wise, but they make better weapons than any other nation," Wilbur explained. "Oceania has joined the other side. They destroyed Business Bay on their way, and this allowed Kristin and Tommy to arrive here. They may be just two people, but they both possess extremely powerful gifts called the Touches of Death and Life. The Blade had brought Niki to us, and she is intertwined with the demonic beast, Leviathan. Phil is helping us, too, and we have another Fae in the form of Shrub. The gnomes, her people, were slaughtered by a demon Schlatt contracted with. Shrub is sometimes possessed by the nature protector Lilka. I am hoping to find more allies, but the other kingdoms are staying out of this."

"Bear, Serenity, Kinoko Kingdom, Las Nevadas..." Samantha began listing off the neutral countries. Her fingers trailed along the map with a hard look overtaking her face. Her fingers eventually reached the border of Manberg, and she grabbed onto the figurine meant to represent Schlatt. She held it up to the light from the torches, the figurine casting a rather large shadow over her pale face. A frown tugged down her features, and it looked so unnatural on her that Wilbur couldn't help but stare. "The world has changed a lot since I've been around. There are newly established countries, and the borders are not quite the same as I remember. What I do know, however, is that war has always been like this. The problems with Duke Schlatt have been around for a long time. Your father dealt with them as best he could, but it seems he did not do a good enough job. It seems the previous generation's problems have fallen on this generation."

Samantha put the figurine back on the table, somehow unaware how she was holding all of Wilbur's attention. "When I was younger, I was just a count's daughter. I had no real political power in the world. I was only able to attend high society gatherings and parties as a performer. I would dance and sing for the nobles with much more power than I possessed. I was able to curry favor with them, and I became a lynchpin of the political world. I could distract people from their pain with my songs. There are not many healthy things in this world that can do that. I was invited to more parties for this reason. I encountered Schlatt many times. When he was younger, he was a rather normal person. Befitting his position, he was social and witty. He knew how to make friends. The reason he frequented the parties, however, was because his particular vice was drinking. It wasn't enough to be considered a serious problem, but the thing about alcohol is that it only ever gets worse. I was able to have a few conversations with him. While he was always a tyrant, he was never power-hungry. He was the type of person to abuse the power that was rightfully his. He would never resort to dirty means to get that power. Do you know what that means, Wilbur?"

The king shook his head slowly. His brain was spinning in tight circles. Samantha had always been one thing in his mind: his mother. She had been caring, soft-hearted, and lively. She was quick to smile and slow to frown. She would lecture him for his misdoings and praise him for his successes. He never had a chance to see who she was as a person. He did not know what she was like as a queen, as a wife, as a count's daughter, as a friend, or any other title she possessed alongside 'mother'. This was his first glimpse of the multi-faceted nature of people. Samantha had been more than someone who loved music. She was someone who had used her gift to become more politically powerful by putting people at ease. She was someone who studied the people around her in order to determine the best way to speak with them. She was someone who wanted more out of life. Wilbur almost wondered if she loved his father. He certainly knew his father loved her. What other reason would he have to marry someone with no explicit political power? Why would he drive himself insane and commit suicide over a cursed woman he did not truly love? Unless there was a lot more at play than Wilbur knew as a child.

The thought sent shivers down his spine. It really called into question everything Wilbur thought he knew. When he was a child, he was obviously looking through rose-tinted glasses. His parents seemed to love each other, so he assumed that they did unconditionally. Wilbur couldn't be certain no love was involved, but now he was starting to wonder if there was a lot more at play than a patron falling in love with the woman he sponsored.

Another thought shot out from that one that didn't help Wilbur's trembling. The Fae were known as cold, calculating creatures that adored playing with mortal lives as if it were all games. Phil wasn't anything like that nor was Shrub, but they both had reasons. Shrub was a gnome, who although fell under the umbrella of Fae, lived separately from them. Phil, from all the words he told Wilbur, was not as morally aligned as he was now. Wilbur imagined that this moral ambiguity was from centuries ago, but Phil never specified when he developed a sense of humanity. Perhaps, and Wilbur hoped he was overthinking, Samantha was the reason for Phil's shift. The thought implied she was moral, of course, but a kind-hearted person would never be able to outwit a Fae creature. It was almost like his mother had been someone who walked along the thin line between good and evil as people generally agreed the definition to be.

Samantha smiled at Wilbur, but it was nothing like the smile she normally displayed. This smile was slightly cruel, almost like a bitter slap of reality. It wasn't the kind of smile a mother reserved for her child. It was one that a wise person had for their foolish king, and Wilbur was obviously the one being called a foolish king in this scenario. "It means that Schlatt is being manipulated behind the scenes by someone. Considering our kingdom's history and the lack of reasoning why Greater would side with Manberg, it seems we know where our manipulator is."