The city would not fall. No matter how many warriors the oligarchs of Lautus would send, they lacked any siege weapons. The walls of Mucatus would withstand any siege they needed until Cambrius and Celsinus arrived to break the siege. Moreover, Lautus was landlocked and lacked a navy. Mucatus was a coastal that could be supplied by sea by once again, Cambrius and Celsinus. Maybe when the allies crushed Lautus' army, a piece of land could be given to Mucatus. Surely, their conquest of the northern tribes had made them overconfident.

Finally, the armed forces of Celsinus, of land and sea, had arrived at Cambrius to counter the aggression of Lautus against Mucatus. Disorganized bands of warriors set off over the mountains to siege the city, while more set off on the combined navies to relieve Mucatus itself. The energy and mood of the camp was nervous as they camped on the last night before they ascended into the highways through the mountains. While the roads were well kept, Lautus had timed its campaign so that they had just missed the snow. Meanwhile, the snow could be seen by the soldiers camping in the shadow of the mountains, a foreboding sight to begin their march through the mountains.

Mucatus was overjoyed when the first ships were seen on the horizon. The citizens cheered as the ships docked into port, hundreds of soldiers spilling out of the ships to stand against the besiegers. No amount of proven tactics could overcome this force that now defended the walls. The mirth in the city would not last. Night fell, and the citizens returned back to their dwellings, fast asleep in peaceful dreams, protected by their stone walls. But the oligarchs were proven wrong. It was not Lautus who had been overconfident, but Mucatus itself, dependent on a mere stone tablet.

No one heard the screams of the soldiers thrown from the walls. Those near the gates were stirred by the sound of the gates slowly opening, and then the deafening sounds of men charging through the gates. The confusion in the city was immense as suddenly Lautus was inside the walls, fighting, raping, and pillaging their way through the city. By dawn, the oligarchs of Mucatus were stripped of their positions on the steps of the Mucatian capital building.

The same fate had befallen Cambrius, their misfortune beginning when they saw an army returning to the gates, soon followed by ships returning to the harbor. With only a small garrison, the city soon surrendered to the attackers. Any mercy they hoped to garner was soon shown to be a farce, as a sacking by the Celsinians soon commenced. Following suit of the Lautians, the Cambrian oligarchs were stripped of their titles and authority over the people of the city.

The betrayal had been planned years in advance, secret messages being passed even through the gates of Cambrius as they went to and fro Celsinus and Lautus. On stone paper, the cities were bound by a mutual defense pact to guarantee the peace in the land. But Celsinus had always been jealous of Cambrius, as the second largest city, and also a younger city, founded by Cambrian settlers. When the Lautian oligarchs offered to plot against Celsinus (with Mucatus as collateral), Celsinian oligarchs were listening. The betrayal was simple, two days after leaving Cambrius, on land and sea, the Celsinian troops would attack the Cambrian, slaughtering them wholesale in their confusion. The plan went off without a hitch, with the Cambrians killing many and taking the survivors prisoner. All that remained was the administration of their new conquests.