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Chapter 7: Urgansk
Sanlo loved Urgansk.
"When Urgan Foxwolf Nagru, the warlord,"—there was a groan from Dampeye, Sanlo had already talked about the Foxwolf five times on their journey—"first traveled south from the Land of Ice and Snow, he attempted to sail his great warship, the Urganskiv, up the South Stream. Unfortunately for him, he had never seen a river before, and wasn't the smartest of foxwolves, and his boat got stuck. Crrooik! Should've got a toad navigator, eh?" Sanlo mimed steering a wheel with a flourish. "Anyway, after a few leagues, the river got shallow and narrow, and his hordes abandoned the Urganskiv in the middle of the river."
As if on cue, the mast of a ship became visible above the thinning trees, if not yet the city.
"After Urgan Nagru plunged Southsward into chaos, nobody cared much for a stuck ship. Except, of course, for the toads. Rrreebb! King Glogalog, in his famed travels, used the boat as a bridge, and brought the toads across the South Stream! Using the remains of a warcamp left by the Foxwolf's hordes, they began to build a city in the cool shadow of the ship. Crroiik, and with them they brought mud and mushrooms and all the stuff necessary, and turned their city into a swamp outside the swamp."
As they left the trees, towering brick walls jutted from the ground. They curved around in a half-arc, stopping where the walls met the Lesser South Stream. Behind the walls, the top of a humongous warship appeared, with a mast like a giant's spear. Topping the mast fluttered the flag of the Toadlands: A silver trident above the Fungal Throne on a blue background. As far as Sanlo knew, the Toadlands had only ever sewn three such flags, and none in such good quality as that that flew above Urgansk.
"Glogalog founded the city, but Gael Squirrelking was a jealous neighbor. After defeating the Foxwolf, he led an attack on our city, stealing it. It was a brutal war. The toads fought valiantly, but the Soutswardens were vicious. Led by that warmonger, the Bellmaker, their armies slaughtered the toads, and blood—our blood—spilled down the river. Southsward took the city, and the toads were forced back across the swamp." Sanlo looked down to see if his companions, pulling the Glogaswamp, were listening. They were not, but he droned on regardless.
"The Southswardens carved a tunnel through the ship, so the Guosssom could bring their logboats and trade, and grew rich from trade. However, near the end of his life, the Great King Glogalog Bulgum led another attack on the city, and returned it to toad lands. For the past hundred seasons, Southsward and the Toads have fought over the city, and more resources were invested into making the city stronger, and more and more lives were wasted fighting over a city that would be taken back a few seasons later."
Sanlo licked an eyeball. "I thought I had put an end to it. Instead of violence, I had talked the Mouseking into giving us the city, for giving him victory in the battle against Silvertung. Not a life lost. I thought it would work. Rrreeb. But now, that cursed treaty. The Squirrelking's stealing the city back again, just like his ancestor."
Burja licked an eyeball and looked up at Sanlo. "But… at least Thariusking didn't kill toads to get the city, right?"
Sanlo nodded with a sour grimace. He had always liked to consider himself a vehement supporter of diplomatic resolutions over needless violence, but in that moment his diplomatic resolution seemed pretty pointless. What if we fought against The Empire? We have the numbers. Thousands of toads. We could win. But the thought of the mass mouse graves kept rising up, and of the Toadlands destroyed, and he shook his head to clear his mind.
They approached the checkered walls of the city, stone in some places, mudbrick in others. A fat toad lounged near the wooden gates, smiling up at Sanlo's approaching Glogaswamp.
"Welcome, crroik! Good to see toads traveling out in the world. Who be youtoads?"
Sanlo looked over the rim of the Glogaswamp. "I am Sanlo Oygamigkingkin. I return from Floret bearing urgent news for all the Toadlands."
The fat toad hopped in surprise, and rapped a complex knock on the gates, which began to swing open. "Yes, yes, Sanlo Kingkin. Would you like to speak to Webtoes Yourkin? And have your Glogaswamp taken to care? And your toadcriminals? Croikkk! Have you heard the news about Oygamig?"
Sanlo hopped down from the Glogaswamp. "I will talk to my brother, yes. He'll be on the boat, of course. Please do take the Glogaswamp, but these are no criminals. Merely my traveling companions, forced to pull the Glogaswamp when our slaves escaped. No, we do not need to search for the slaves, rrrebb, I am sure The Empire will catch them. What news about Oygamig?"
The fat toad nodded, and waved his webbed foot. As Burja and Sanlo's other companions unhooked themselves from the pulling chains of the Glogaswamp, two young toads leaped forward and hooked themselves to the vehicle. The young toads began to pull the Glogaswamp off to the left, where about a dozen other of the portable swamps were parked. "Oygamigking's gone missing, Master. Roughly a week past, crroiik."
Sanlo scowled. With a curt nod and a growled thanks, he began to walk with his companions towards where Urganskiv's mast peaked over the buildings.
The hodgepodge structures of Urgansk indicated the city's history well. There were the stone buildings with slanted roofs of the Southswarden style, which were made to seem more impressive by how they contrasted the more numerous mud-and-wood Toad huts. There were some buildings that looked like a mix of the two styles, made of mudbrick. In some areas, mud and slime coated the streets, and in others, the stone roads were pristine. While the Toads currently controlled the city, there were still a few moles, hedgehogs, and, most common, mice making their way through the streets, beasts too poor or proud or unlucky to leave the city when Sanlo had negotiated for it.
The deeper they went into the city and the closer they came to the river, the more evidence of toad civilization became apparent. Massive heaps of mud covered large sections of the city, dotted with the dark holes of toad burrows. Sanlo sighed in satisfaction when the streets became so muddy and swamplike that wading through them felt like home.
Suddenly, the buildings were cut off by a gargantuan wooden wall. Burja gasped, even though he would have already seen it when they came through the city before. The side of the Urganskiv, a humongous ship bigger that could house the entire population of Urgansk. Sanlo could hardly see where the ship ended. It was made in the Land of Ice and Snow, where a ship's only hope of survival on the rough, frozen seas where dark monsters of legend lurked in the water, was to be even mightier than an iceberg and tougher than the sea monsters. This stupendous feat of carpentry and seafaring, brought low by a narrow stream.
The Urganskiv's hull was covered with doors of every kind of wood, built for trade with the Guosim. The largest of the doors, about thirty paw-spans from the ground, was wide open, revealing a bridge. Sanlo and his companions took the mudbrick stairs up to the bridge, walking inside the ship's hollow hull.
Inside, a vast network of wooden bridges criss-crossed above the river. The area was lit by an army of torches. To the right and left, Sanlo could see where Gael Squirrelking's carpenters had tore holes in the front and back of the ship to let the river through. On all the bridges, some nearly touching the water, others high up near the ceiling of the hull, toad-merchants had set up shop. Their cries about how good their wares were echoed through the hull. On the river, Guosssom Shrew-traders announced how good their wares were, completing the cacophony of the free market.
Sanlo and his companions turned right on a connecting bridge, a ramp that led up towards the top of the hull. The bridge opened up to a beam of sunlight as they reached the Urganskiv's deck.
Compared to the hull, the deck seemed calm and empty, despite the group of toads and vermin standing near the mast, shouting at each other.
"Urgansk is toad-land, fox!" Shouted a huge, yellow and warty toad in a silver robe. Behind him stood a host of toad-guards, all holding tridents and stonewhips. "Rrreb! I'm in charge here, and I will protect this city, not this Silvertung, not this Kamataya!"
"Circumstances haf changed," replied a long-haired fox with orange and blue colors that indicated him as from across the Saltswamp. "Urganzk vill be falling under control of ze Empire soon enough. Ve are here to collect ze mice of ze city. In accordance vith the Mouseking execution, all mice in ze Kingdom of Southsvard vill be-"
"Crroiik! This is not Southsward!"
"I haf mine orders, toad. From Queen Kamataya herzelf. I vill follow zem, vatever you zink of zem."
Sanlo cursed, causing the toads and vermin to turn towards him and his companions. The orange-and-blue fox's face seemed to get even more expressionless, while the silver-robed toad's face lit up in a smile.
"Sanlobrother!" called the toad. "You've returned. Rrrreb! Timeperfect, too! These vermin say Urgansk belongs to them. Lies!"
"By ze treaty of Floret, signed by ze auzority of King Oygamig of Ze Toadlands–" began the fox.
"Nonsense!" shouted Sanlo's brother, cutting off the fox. "Sanlo, tell him how your journey went! You said you were going to make allies!"
Sanlo took a sharp inhale. "The negotiations went poorly, Webtoes. The Toadlands have two and a half weeks to relinquish control of Urgansk."
Webtoes blinked. "But… Oygamigking…"
"Oygamig is dead. You might have heard about him going missing. Rrrebb, the vermin got to him."
Webtoes gasped, and the fox nodded. "Yes. Urgansk vill be reingratiated vith ze Kingdom of Southsvard. Kamataya says ve are to collect ze mice in Southsvard. I vill follow mine orders."
Sanlo licked an eyeball. "17 days, left, the treaty says. Master Fox, we need to follow our… orders… too. The treaty says 17 days, not now."
The fox frowned. "That vas not our command. Kamataya zays the zity belongs to us. Now."
Sanlo frowned. Kamataya… The Westerners' leader? Is this a scheme of Tharius, or of Vafir, or of this Kamataya? To try and take Urgansk before the treaty came into play. Why would they want to accomplish that? "A compromise! No need for this to come to bloodshed." What would they deal? "You take the mice, but the toads can leave, croiiik?"
Webtoes spat in indignation. "No! Rrebbb. Mice are of this city, brother, and I rule them. I won't betray my subjects for some… vermin."
Sanlo eyed Webtoes uneasily. Always so self-righteous, brother. This better not cost us anything.
The fox looked uncomfortable. "I vill follow orders. I haf no orders about compromise-making. Kamataya says this zity is ours, and I mean to ensure zat."
Sanlo frowned. It seemed that this fox was the kind of beast who was straightforward and loyal. Well, there was only one remedy for that. "Money," he muttered.
"Vat?" asked the fox.
Sanlo looked at the vermin, about fifteen in total. "Whatever beast leaves the city and in peace will receive thirty Guosssom Loggets each, worth about seventy Southswarden Bronzewards. You can tell this Kamataya bad weather mislaid you, or you received bad directions, or you heard that the treaty wasn't in place yet and you decided to wait and figure things out. Crroiik! With that money, you could go to the east and buy Redwall Abbey and live like kings."
Webtoes gasped at the expense, and the fox started shaking his head violently. "No, no, no. I vill follow mine orders, and—"
A pointed blade split the fox's chest from behind. The fox gave a groan, then crumpled to the ground as blood pooled around him.
A violet-gold rat stood behind the fox, holding a long, bloody dagger and grinning. "Ve'll be leafing, no trouble. Zis means I get his share, ya?" he pointed to his murdered leader.
Webtoes looked between Sanlo and the rat, and nodded helplessly.
Sanlo, trying to ignore the pooling blood, smiled and nodded in agreement. "You'll get your money at the gates."
The vermin left through the trapdoor to the inside of the hull. Webtoes looked at Sanlo with uncertainty. "That would be… over a hundred Loggets, croiiik!"
Sanlo shrugged. "You don't have much use for Loggets, though. Rrrebb, at this point, this city must have thousands of Loggets stashed somewhere."
Webtoes thought about it a moment, then nodded. "I suppose. Oygamig's dead?"
Sanlo nodded. "Yes. I have a favor to ask of you. Or rather, your guards."
Webtoes frowned. "What more?"
"Take a bunch of tridents, and travel about a league to the south, along the river. Then, bury the tridents. Nothing more."
Webtoes frowned. "Why—"
"Don't ask. Kruurk! It may come to nothing, but it might be helpful. Just do it."
Still looking puzzled, Webtoes shrugged. He turned to his guards, "You heard him! Go!"
The toads guards hopped over to the trapdoor, descending into the hull.
Sanlo smiled at his brother. "Thank you, Webtoes. Spread the word that the toads here will have to return to the Toadlands. Soon. The mice should flee. The other woodlanders too, for that matter. I'll be leaving now."
Sanlo and his companions hopped towards the bustling market. Their next stop was the Swamp. Home.
Author's Note: This concludes the first round of Sanlo chapters! A lot of this fic will be me practicing writing concepts I think I can improve upon. For this chapter, I wanted to practice description, and the concept of the City of Urgansk was very intriguing to me. It was fun exploring it.
That being said, my descriptions still need a lot of work. I think a large part of the problem with my description writing, and these Sanlo chapters in general, is that I don't really have a strong voice. I think I did an alright job on prose with the other viewpoint characters-I'm proud of how Fabian's chapters turned out-but I still need to a lot of work on prose, and Sanlo's chapters make this weakness apparent.
Author's Note 2: A few days ago, in the Redwall Readership Restores Discord, there was an interesting discussion on how we plan out our stories. This fic was the product of late-night inspiration, and I have a lot clear ideas for the beginning and middle of the character's arcs, though how it will end is still a bit blurry. This is the opposite of how it was with TDEv1. However, I do have a very clear idea of how I want Sanlo's character arc to complete by the end of this book. I'm wondering if they may be a problem, as I might be sacrificing a naturally-progressing story so I can set up the ending I want for this character. We'll see how this works out.
As always, feedback is more than welcome!