You arrive at the River Gate.

A steady sea-breeze allows your fleet to sail up the river Elaina instead of rowing and your Sisters are waiting to catch your first glimpse of Athenapolis. You and your childhood friend Thea trained on the tiny stern of your galley as far away as possible from the group of nine Daughters of Lycaon chanting in unison at the bow of the ship. You were both still young and inexperienced, which holds true for most of your crew and army, so you train as much as possible to make sure you can keep up with the more experienced soldiers in United Armies.

Like most Amazonians native to Accor, you have tan skin, thick raven-black hair that falls to your shoulder blades, and dark brown eyes. Years of training has built up a fair bit of muscle, but your smooth young body betrays your inexperience like an open book. No scars, very few blemishes, not even a scuff mark on your golden armor or a frayed piece of string on your red cape. As the princess of a warrior nation, your armor is second to none in quality. The chainmail with gilded plates painstakingly forged to fit the feminine contours of your body will stop even heavy spear thrusts, a blood red petrous hangs down to your golden thighs, and golden plate grieves and matching gantlets protect your shapely legs and arms.

For your spar with Thea you chose to wield your mother’s long sword, the only part of your mother's gear that was retrieved from the battle of Elaina, and a large round shield; your friend's sword is lighter and slightly shorter than yours and she uses a small round shield not much bigger than her head. Thea is a skirmisher at heart and prefers to fight in light leather armor as opposed to your heavy plate mail. Because of this you were finding it difficult to land a solid hit on Thea as the agile woman playfully ducks and dodges your attacks.

“You have to do better than that, Xira,” she laughs gleefully as she ducks under another one of your swings.

“I would perform better if you would stop taunting me!” you reply gritting your teeth as you try to knock her off balance with your shield. Again, she jumps out of the way before you could hit her.

“Maybe you should learn to control that legendary temper of yours,” she replies. You take another swing at her with your sword only for her to parry your swing before kicking your feet out from under you. You fall onto your back and look up at Thea with a shocked look in your eyes as she points her sword at your chin. “That make’s three,” she says playfully, “Ready to give up yet?”

You let out a low growl before your friend pulls her sword away from your chin and helps you to your feet. “Of course not,” you snap, “How am I supposed to avenge my mother if I can’t even defeat you.”

Thea lets out a long sigh and places her hand on your shoulder, “We’ve all lost mothers and Sisters to the greed of Athenapolis. All of us feel the same way you do, and we will gladly claim our vengeance in your name; just do me a favor and don’t let your anger consume you. I would hate to see you get hurt because you charged recklessly into battle.

You stare at her for a long moment before letting a smile cross your lips. You then lightly pressed your forehead against Thea’. “Alright, I see your point. I’ll try not to let my anger get the better of me.”

“Good,” she replied, “So does that mean you give up yet?”

“No,” you chuckle easily once again.

Thea rolls her eyes and steps back, “Worth a shot.”

Once more taking up your positions, you are about to continue your practice when general, Atheas, approaches you. The tough-as-oak battle-hardened veteran is one of the survivors of the Battle of Elaina and the highest ranking and most experienced warrior in your army. At the same time, she is one of the people you had suspicions about; you remember all too well how often she and your mother passionately argued about how Accor should respond to the threats from the mainland.

“Your Highness,” the middle-aged woman with scars running across her rough skin and a mix of gray and dark hair starts with a slight bow, “We are approaching the River gate.”

The massive gates of Athenapolis that controlled the river running through the heart of the city were, as you expected, closed and manned by armed guards above. The gates when open were large enough for three of your sleek galleys to fit through at the same time even with their masts raised or for the river barges that carried much of the exports from the Hellenic city states to the ports of the inner sea. For you and your Sisters to be able to sail up and down the river and land alongside the rich prizes of the great city that gate would have to be breached and from the look of it that would be no easy task.

Atheas had counseled against this expedition precisely because of this barrier, arguing that the light galleys in your fleet were too weak to ram the gates and that the defenses back on accor were still insufficient to support an invasion leagues away from the jungle shores of Accor. There was also the matter of your inexperience. Only eighteen most of your ruling council thought that you were too young and too green to lead a full-scale campaign. However, one of the priestesses of the Daughters of Aphrodite named Laoda, pointed out that Athenapolis has just put itself in a situation to where it's defeat was all but inevitable, and if a lack of experience was the problem, then a one-sided war would be the best place for you to gain said experience. Though still hesitant, Atheas and the council agreed to support you in the campaign against Athenapolis.

Thea lets out a sigh of relief upon hearing this. It is quite clear that she was worn out from fighting you though she probably wouldn’t admit it if you asked her. Perhaps that's the reason she was trying to get you to yield, she's quicker than you, but even in your heavier armor, your advantage in size and stamina usually pays off eventually.

“Very good,” you sheath your sword, “Disembark our troops a safe distance from the walls and prepare the blockade. I must meet with the alliance generals. I’m sure Laoda is quite eager to have some more armed women between her and these…pent up men.”

“About that my queen,” Atheas continues, “I’m afraid those men aren’t the only ones who are…pent up. As you are aware, we have a lot of youths on board and well,” she glances towards a group of young warriors gathering at the port side of the galley, “many of these recruits are still learning how to control the heat. Indeed almost a dozen young women had removed their helmets and let their hair down; the group is dressed for travel, not battle in short tunics that ended high on their thighs. Once the men came into view, the girls started waving and flirting with the men on shore, their bare arms and legs glistened in the warm sun earning many a whistle from the crowd.