Constantine and his bodyguards would ride at full speed towards the city of Kalamata, this journey would take almost an entire day, from daybreak to night fall to reach the city, in which they would have to cross the Taygetos mountains to get there. There would only lay a dirt path through the area, with barely any traffic by foot seen between the two points. There wouldn't lay any of the old Roman roads as seen in many other areas, due to Morea's recent relevance in its history. As the group of soldiers would cross the mountains themselves, they would have a strange sight come across them, it would be a man on a horse riding even faster than they were in the same direction! The man would fly by Constantine and his bodyguards and then look behind him before proceeding to slow down.
"I can't believe my eyes!! If it isn't the 4th son of Manuel Palaiologos!" says the man
The bodyguards of Constantine quickly move to surround the Despot, as they were wary of the strange man whom they hadn't seen before.
"Halt!" shouts out Alexios,
"What business do you have with the Despot? Are you friend or foe?"
The man proceeds to get off of his steed and kneels before the Despot and his personal retinue before saying,
"I am simply a humble servant to Rome, I like to document the history of the state whenever possible, and I had heard there was a battle occurring here in Morea so I decided to ride here as fast as I could!"
Constantine and his bodyguards would all look at each other confused, as this man appeared to have no direct master to have him record these histories and they had also not heard of the man before.
"My name is John Kananos, 3rd son of Theodore Kananos, whom is a merchant. A pleasure to meet all of you. I had stopped as I had wished to ask you my lord about your choice of Kalamata as a target so that I can include it into a written history of the decade."
"Hm, well, if you're heading the same way as me we can talk about it on the ride there!" issues Constantine
"I need a good companion on the road! My guards don't speak much other than Alexios."
The group would continue forth through the mountain passes nearing ever closer to Kalamata. Their horses moving at a constant pace without break.
"So, why choose Kalamata you ask? It's under the Achaeans, whom are the only opponents here in the Peloponnese that we can possibly fight. Other than that, Kalamata is rich in terms of olives, grain, and figs, alongside a few textiles in the area. A good port for us to move through instead of needing to cross the mountains all the way to Monemvasia instead."
John Kananos begins to ponder, before asking,
"And what of Kastro Kalamata? It's been rebuilt under the Achaeans with the walls being almost half a meter higher. It's sitting atop a hill, and it's made of stone."
"You've been there before?" asked Constantine
"Once or twice when i was younger. I accompanied my father on a few trips down to Kalamata for trade. If you're planning on assaulting the walls, it may be difficult, though luckily for you I know exactly how many men they have present and a weak spot within the walls…. for a price." responds John
"You are a merchant's son aren't you… Name your price and i'll reward you with it."
replied Constantine
John ponders for a bit before smiling and saying,
"I'd like to ask for the honor of attending you on these conquests my lord, i'm quite a wealthy man already."
"Of course John! I'd be glad to have you attend us on our campaign!" yells out Constantine
John proceeds to search through his bag and pulls out a map of the surrounding area, and then proceeds to point to Kalamata itself.
"Here is Kalamata, as you know i'm sure, however what you may not know is that the castle sits high upon a hill, no other way to get in other than extremely high ladders, climbing, or going through the gate which is also extremely difficult. Though, you have one advantage being that they have less than 100 soldiers defending this territory. If I recall correctly, Achaean fortresses are usually poorly manned but have high stockpiles of food. They plan to wait you out instead of the other way around O Despotēs mou."
"This is quite an issue hm," Constantine thinks to himself before motioning to Alexios to join their side
"What do you think Alexios? I'm sure you've been listening, how should we approach this?"
"A night assault, maybe with overwhelming the castle by force and using our cannons while they're preoccupied to blast down their gate. Otherwise they'd see us coming and be more than prepared against us. We could blast down the walls, break in, and force the garrison to surrender." quickly responds Alexios.
Constantine looks at his bodyguard and smiles greatly,
"Perfect, we'll do this then."
The group continues moving quickly around the winding mountains, following the dirt roads. By horse such a journey wasn't terrible but by foot the climb up and down the hills would surely kill a man! Soon they would reach the Nedontas river and begin following it Southward, all the way up until they'd reached the camp of Domianus.
When looking at the camp of the Rhōmaîoi, there would be many soldiers moving around to set up a small camp to defend the soldiers. There would be many soldiers on guard, and one could see many different tents, some containing soldiers, some tents containing prostitutes whom would follow the camps of army's to sell themselves for money. There were blacksmiths sharpening and repairing blades along the edges of camp with cooks preparing meals for the tired soldiers after their long march. The flag of Constantine, a double headed eagle with a cross and crown, would fly high above the camp, showing the inhabitants of the city whom was there to liberate them.
Constantine and his group would continue moving through the camp, watching as people went forward with their daily tasks without much thought. Over 1,700 soldiers present with another 300 citizens, being men, women, and children. Constantine would eventually find himself near the center of the camp where a large tent stood. He would nod to the guards defending the tent before being allowed in by them.
Domianus would look up from his paper he was writing on, noticing his Kephale standing there.
"Ah! My cheerful friend there you are!"
He would go on to rush to hug Constantine and greet the others as well.
"And Alexios! As tall and strong as ever I see!" laughed out Domianus
"And this is?…. I'm not sure actually, another man added to the cause i suppose brother"
John Kananos would bow before Domianus before saying,
"My name is John Kananos sir. I'm from a merchant's family, but i am a chronicler of our history. I've asked Constantine to allow me the opportunity to travel and witness his conquests."
Alexios grins and pats the man on the back, "you have much to see then, i'm sure you'll have plenty to write about!"
After the pleasantries, Constantine would be quick to begin discussing the issues of the siege.
"By the way Constantine, we've managed to evacuate some of the citizens from Kalamata. They're loyal Rhōmaîoi, but the Latin nobles have fled to the hilltop castle." issues Domianus
"That's fine then, we can use this to clear out some of the homes for us to use in this siege then." replies constantine
"And so Domianus, do you think it's a fine plan? Alexios, John, and I had discussed it on the way here. A night assault to catch them off guard and be able to move our cannons in place to blow their gate down." asks Constantine
"I'm not sure, but it sounds interesting! I'm up for a challenge such as this!" replies Domianus
Constantine asks for John to pull out his map, before dragging his finger across it to the gate of the castle itself.
"Domianus, i'll have you storm the gate itself. This is a difficult task that will require stealth and speed. I believe you and other trusted men are for this task."
He then proceeds to look to the slopes of the castle, noting their height and the men guarding them.
"From what we've noticed from spies of ours, they have around 100 soldiers within the castle. During night, only 20-30 of them stay on patrol. We can try to not only break down the gates, but rush their walls with ladders as well during the night to overwhelm their garrison. I can't send any of you to do this dangerous job alone, so I will go to hit the Southern portion of the wall and Alexios on the eastern portion. Each of us will have 200 stratiōtēs when we head out at night."
Domianus and Alexios both nod in agreement, prepared to undertake this task given. From there, leaving quickly to gather the soldiers needed for their fight. Constantine would walk through the camp, passing through multiple different sections containing different allagion. As he'd walk his eyes would drift to see a young man of 21 years sitting on a log sharpening his sword. The man would move his eyes upwards before going back to sharpening his sword.
"Is this a way to address your Despotē!?" addressed one of Constantine's guards angrily
Constantine would wave his hand before sitting down next to the man,
"What's your name? You look foreign,"
The man would continue sharpening his sword and reply,
"It's Tanush. Tanush of Gjonaj. I'm one of the Albanian mercenaries made into one of your soldiers my lord, and I am leader of the Albanian Allagion."
"Tell me about yourself, how did you get to this position so quickly?" asked Constantine
"It's not that much, I served under a man called Gjon Kastrioti. I served with the Serbian despot Stefan Lazarević back when he called for aid from my liege 6 summers ago. At the age of 15 I rode with Stanisha Kastrioti to help defend the Serbians against Venice in their war. I earned the recognition of my peers after slaughtering over 2 dozen enemies in the battles of Shirgj and Drisht. From there I began to lead men up until the end of the war. I was no longer a boy, but instead a man with blood on his hands. I liked this feeling… no… i loved it. I knew from then on I wanted to fight and kill."
"I'm glad I have you on my side then, why not stay with your lord, in his lands then?" asked Constantine
"There weren't any wars over there, and this pays more than they will back at home. I'm not a nobleman so I don't have any lands to tend to, and my family is dead. Killed by Turkish raiders."
"Your a brave man Tanush. I'd like you and your Allagion to join me on tonight's assault. It will be bloody, and I can't promise you will come out unscathed." informs Constantine
"It's an honor my lord, my men have been waiting for blood to quench their swords. I trust you'll inform me more soon correct?." Asks Tanush
"Of course, meet me Domianus' tent right around Dusk, inform your men to get some rest and be ready and armed come midnight."
Constantine would make his way to the edge of the camp to look at the city south of him. He could see the castle overlooking the city, with large polygonal walls standing strong. He could see the Agioi Apostoloi as well, standing above many of the smaller homes of the city. A beautiful church with Rhōmaîoi influence in its appearance.
'I must keep this place intact as much as possible,' though Constantine
'This will be the Port of Morea following its capture, and I want every Venetian, Genoan, Ragusan, anyone to know that the Rhōmaîoi are back.'