The Tale of Belli versus Ingenii

Not all events in the Pantheon's life are grand wars and conflicts. In fact, simpler events with "smaller" consequences are the norm rather than the exception, but that does not mean that they are to be ignored, as is going to be shown in the story of how Belli, the Mighty God of Strategy, was best at his own art by Ingenii, the clever God of Mischief.   It was a time when the first "warrior" child of the union of Bellum and Legatia was still quite young, in a stage of his life that we would call "young adulthood"; it was a time when despite his short age, he had a meteoric rise through the ranks of commanding officers of Paraborn's armies, second to only his own father, due to his exceptional skills at strategy. Yet even though he had the innate skills and capability, the speed of his rise had left him...devoid of humility to say the least.   Full of arrogance, he enjoyed boasting to his peers (and especially his other warrior brothers and sister) to how superior he was to them: to Auctoritas, he chastised his utter ignorance regarding the matters of War, while to Miles, he chastised her tendency to lead from the front instead of staying safe in the back as any officer should. But it was to Virtus, the mighty Heavenly Paladin which he treated with the most scorn, considering his excellence in singular combat to be quite the spectacle in arranged duels, while being an utter waste in proper combat; after all, battles and wars are won by armies, not heroes.   His main point was in a battle or war, no one besides his own father could match or equal him, and therefore all others were inherently below him, not just in rank but also as individual beings: they were "inferior" gods, and so, they should treat him as their innate superior. Yet his siblings quickly ignored him and all his challenges, focusing instead on their own duties and jobs, which made Belli furious: how dare they ignore their superior being when he gave them the "honor" to be listening to his higher “wisdom”. This came to a point when he purposely cornered Virtus, in order to force him to fight an entire battalion when he wasn't ready for combat. The young Champion of Paraborn was beaten and humiliated, yet Belli considered that it was a "just" move, since of all of his siblings, he had been the one who had rejected his advice the most...he would never imagine what consequences would arise from such a course of action.   For Virtus had formed a close brotherhood with the rowdy and chaotic Ingenii, a clever and mischievous young god that had become infamous for his many mischiefs and utter apathy towards the authority of Paraborn, before gaining a more prestigious reputation as a clever (and unexpectedly loyal) warrior during the Civil War; if there was a fellow god that the rebellious God of Liberty and Ingenuity respected enough to hear his advice, it was Virtus. And he wouldn't let his best friend get his honor trampled and shoved down into the proverbial mud without making the perpetrators regret it.   He encountered Belli, and did what no one expected, not even Belli: he challenged him to a wargame, with the condition that if Ingenii bested the master of Strategy at his own game, he would not only have to apologize to his brother but to never again declare himself superior to anyone, a mighty blow to Belli's ego if it ever came to pass. For a moment Belli hesitated, having learned during the wars that Paraborn had fought that Ingenii always deviced plans that couldn't be predicted, being a master trickster and all that. But when Ingenii out loud asked if he was hesitating because he wasn't sure to be able to succeed, there was no way that the proud God of Strategy could leave the challenge unanswered. He accepted it, with the condition of having Ingenii to become his own personal "slave" once he inevitably won, a condition that the Mischief of the Heavens accepted with a wide grin.   After getting the approval of Bellum for the official arrangement of this wargame, both contestants were given around 2 weeks to organize themselves and their forces before meeting at the field of battle. Once this period of time was over, the two participants and their respective forces gathered at the Acies, a massive magic stadium that allowed the accurate enactment of military wargames, normally used for training purposes only. However, this event was massive, due to how quickly and popular the news had spread, and there was nowhere else best suited in order to allow the gathered masses of gods to watch it properly. Belli could only smile, for this meant that his inevitable victory would be all the greatest, and the humiliation of Ingenii would be beyond measure. Yet, as his challenger grinned at him shortly after a series of very acrobatic pirouettes for the public's amusement and cheers, he couldn't help but feel...nervous. He pushed those thoughts away, for the young general in his arrogance couldn't conceive of any trick the rowdy deity could pull off, yet the sensation of encroaching danger would only grow.   The two main competitors rode to the very center of the arena, where they introduced themselves to the High Council. There, Bellum presented the conditions for either side's victory in this contest: if either the majority of one of the armies was forced to surrender or "slain" (they would be equipped with weapons that would simulate deadly wounds to the point of incapacitating the opponents for the rest of the exercise), or its commanding officer was captured, they would be declared vanquished. And with these rules of victory clear to all, the supreme commander of Paraborn declared the beginning of the wargame.   The very arena changed, transforming and expanding to fit the two great armies (both around the same size) in a large enough space that would force each of them to start scouting for the position of each other. And for this wargame, that would have been more difficult than usual, for the field became a mostly hilly and forested area, with just a few plains that would allow the full arrangement of the forces in a long battle line.   Yet this difficult terrain didn't deter Belli, who as per standard doctrine sent his scouts to find his foe, discover the exact size and composition of his foes, in order for him to prepare a plan that would deliver victory. In the meantime, he ordered his army to remain steady yet alert: he wouldn't risk his troops without at the very least the first reports of his scouts regarding the exact layout of the field.   Time passed, and soon enough the scouts returned and the information they brought to Belli was very useful: they had found the enemy army (or at the very least the majority of it), deployed inside an open plain surrounded by a thick forest, with only two entrances to the area. In normal circumstances this would be a mighty position to storm, yet the scouts told him that the entrance closest to their current position was far wider than the one directly at the back of Ingenii’s army: if they managed to force the opponent’s force to fall back enough from the entrance to the forest glade, they would have practically no escape, especially once the bulk of Belli's army would have entered the glade and surrounded the enemy.   Belli was pleased to know this intel, and so ordered the scouts to guide the army towards the enemy's position, while on the march and once he got personal view of the enemy force he would devise a plan to win the battle swiftly and decisively.   His army followed the scouts, marching with a mighty forest on one of its sides, and not before long, found themselves facing the glade's entrance, where the enemy was waiting for them. Belli rode to the front, getting a more personal picture of the foes his forces would face, and the result was satisfying: as for the reports, the force of the enemy was inside the glade, and there were only two entrances out of it within the extreme thickness of the forest around it preventing its use as escape routes. And with this asserted, he trusted the validity of the reports, believing them to be as accurate as they could be. With this in mind, he devised a simple yet effective plan, where his shock troops would be sent forwards in order to be able to force back the enemy if they attempted to use the natural shock point of the forest glade's entrance to their advantage. Once this was done, the rest of the regiments would pour in, surround the foes, and force their surrender. And since this was the main force of the enemy, this massive surrender would bring him victory as previously described.   He communicated his orders to his subordinates, and they went to fulfill them. The shock infantry, with their heavy armor and big two handed weapons marched on, with the rest of the army following close by: they would pour in as soon as the first gaps around the flanks of the enemy were open. And as Belli expected, Ingenii's forces drove forwards towards the entrance, making a mighty shield wall that plugged the entrance shut from their side. Yet this was nothing he couldn't rely on for his troops to crack open.   The clash began, and although the enemy put up a fierce resistance, the shock troops of Belli forced them to pull back, which allowed his forces to push forwards with more and more numbers. Yet, while this was happening, he noticed something was off: the enemy force was pulling back in excellent order, always keeping enough space on their flanks to move and to be slightly flanked by the enemy, yet never enough to allow a full encirclement to be developed. Feeling this could the precedent for some sort of trap, he ordered his scouts to try finding if there was any area where the enemy might be hiding, and also to find if there was a way to get to the back entrance of the glade: perhaps he could detach a part of his army in order to get them to attack behind the enemy. His scouts went as fast as lightning, for every second they lingered the battle could turn in either side's favor. Meanwhile, as the feeling of danger grew on Belli's mind, he decided to keep a reserve force, ready to be sent around the forest if there was a way, but also to be ready to respond to any surprises Ingenii might pull off.   Speaking of Ingenii, it was when his force was around the center of the glade that he made his presence known, surging forwards from a hidden position to charge against the center of his foe’s army. For a second, this made Belli happy, for this could be an opportunity to capture him. He sent orders for the troops on hand to focus their efforts on overwhelming the warrior deity, but to his dismay they proved no match against the might of one of Paraborn's champions. Realizing that the troops facing Ingenii were hesitating to even march forwards against their singular opponent (something that had never happened before to Belli), he changed the orders to merely surround and isolate the commander so that he couldn't intervene in his army's defeat. It wouldn't be a full victory to great dismay for the young general, for his foe had proven to be way tougher than he anticipated; yet at this point he was still confident in his victory. And for several minutes, his plan seemed to be succeeding: the opposing army was pulling back ever more with signs of breaking and their supreme commander was isolated. And once the scouts returned with reports saying that there were no foes that could threaten the situation, he smiled, for he could taste the sweet flavor of triumph on his very lips.   Yet when his enemies broke ranks and started to rout, his own feelings of alarm were set ablaze: this was too easy, he had seen mere moments ago that his foes were holding on. And when his troops gave chase, attempting to finish the battle once and for all, was the instant were he locked eyes with Ingenii, with his opponent grinning wide and open, his white teeth the centerpiece in a mocking face...that he realized that whatever ruse his challenger had made, he had fallen for it.   For a mighty host of cavalry appeared at the rear of his army and charged against his back, having come up from areas Belli's scouts had reported him to lack any enemies. What's more, the supposedly routing soldiers of Ingenii wheeled around in a second, charging in as a thick mass against the then disorganized foot soldiers of the general; he was in effect surrounded. His reserves tried to stand their ground in order to allow a breakthrough of the forming pocket, but were soon overwhelmed, and to make matters worse, Ingenii charged forwards, using his massive mace to open a path through the enemy soldiers to get to Belli. And right around the same time as the cavalry at his command charged forwards against the rear of the opposing force, he triumphantly put his weapon's head right below Belli's chin, gesturing his opponent to surrender. He had won, and decisively so, having achieved at the same time both victory objectives, for his foe's army surrendered once they realized they couldn't escape the trap they found themselves in, enemy forces at their front and rear, with practically impenetrable woods in the flanks.   Once the battle was over, Belli couldn't help but ignore his extremely bruised ego and go to ask personally his opponent about how he had done it: Ingenii was a warrior, not a strategist, yet he had devised such a plan; how? Ingenii only smiled, and proudly revealed his secret: he had found someone else to help him.   Ingenii knew he lacked any knowledge regarding commanding others, so he was clever enough to try finding someone else that did know that. And that one with command knowledge was general Vorganon, second in command of Belli. He had accepted Ingenii's offer to aid him win this wargame, both because he wanted to see if he had learned enough from his superior to best him at his own area of expertise, and also because he wanted to teach the young god a lesson in humility as well. Vorganon had not only devised a plan; he had acted regarding this wargame as if it was an actual battle, unlike Belli. For while Belli just rested and relaxed, overconfident on his triumph no matter the odds, the older general contacted Bellum, convincing the supreme commander to transform the arena to fit Vorganon's plan. He also contacted Milles, hoping to get her to participate on their side. And although she didn't join, she did agree to prepare the subordinate officers and the troops in order to ensure they would follow the orders to the letter. Combined with the fact that he had convinced all the scouts of Belli's force (due to the respect these soldiers had for the other sons of Bellum) to deliver false reports regarding the position of the cavalry forces while at the same time guiding Belli's army into a position they couldn't escape once they were inside...and the fate of the exercise was long decided.   Belli, faced with such overwhelming revelations, just smiled: for they were right, they had taken this entire situation very seriously, as a matter of life and death. He, on the other hand, hadn't. Not only that, they proved to him how vital where many of the areas of military warfare that he had looked down upon were: his field officers were either too cautious or too foolhardy, and had proved incapable to lead their troops as effectively as his sister Miles would have, and once Ingenii entered the action, he lacked a champion capable of facing down such a mighty warrior...   Considering his previous behavior, one would assume that such humiliation, to be bested by those he considered lesser gods in such a manner and to a massive audience would be a wound to the pride of the general that would never, ever heal. But Belli wasn't like that: deep down, he was a wise deity, one that learned from every victory, and more so from every defeat. The lessons he learned would forever mark him, allowing him to grow far beyond had he remained as he was: arrogant, brash and overconfident, believing that no matter the circumstance, he would prevail. He profusely apologized to his siblings, and never again declared himself a superior god to anyone. He would focus his energy into further studies of warfare, a path that this sets him as the commander-in-chief of Paraborn's army, second only to his own father in rank yet equal in command ability.   This is a simple story, one that confers many key lessons, lessons that should be listened to and applied to heart. For while the greatest cost Belli endured was a public humiliation, those who behave like he once did could pay the ultimate price...or worse. After all, if you underestimate your foe thinking he is a fool, you might soon find yourself fooled by your own arrogance.