[Chronologically, this occurs before my expansion/migration.]

The Lydians had come again, and this time in a force not seen since they had forced the Urapi from Urapital. This time it wouldn't be enough to simply make continued raids unprofitable... this time there would be pitched battles.

But where, and against whom? The Lydians vastly outnumbered them, and fighting all of them was hardly viable. So what, then, was to be the plan? Simply burrow down in the most defensible settlements and resist there? That was hardly an option, as the Lawgiver's authority over those more recently brought into the Urapi's fold was still fairly tenuous. Failing to make a defence would be akin to forfeiting his mandate to rule.

And so instead a new plan was hatched. The Urapi knew, or perhaps falsely believed, the generals of Lydia to be fairly independent men who acted with the permit of the Despot yet sought to increase their own power at any and every opportunity. With this in mind the Urapi did not necessarily need to defeat every general, but rather engineer a situation whereby no Lydian was prepared to be the next to lead an assault, as it would be bloody enough so as to undermine their situation at home.

And so the Lawgiver called for the troops to gather in the north of the Urapi dominion on the Varic Plateau. If someone was to be punished it was decreed that someone might as well be whoever was in charge of the Evraios - their acquisition into Lydia was recent enough that some still resented their yoke and perhaps a weakening of the garrison there would lead to rebellion.

And so the Urapi prepared and troops gathered, laying ready to assault with extreme prejudice whichever Lydians came from the northern frontier.