Eostia: Harem Quest

by EostianScribe

The Gods have given mortals the power of The Gamer as a pass time. A hobby. A means to compete and relax. One goddess, however, sees it as a means of salvation; starting with one world. As such, she rolls the dice... (Harem, Citrus and Eventual Dark Content Warning)

46. Act II-Ch XXIII: Fluent in Violence

[ - Author's Note - ]

Annnnnnnnnnnd here we are with an over twenty two thousand word chapter... Oh god... Another long one...

Joking aside; my plan was to split this into two chapters but I was worried there wouldn't be enough for two; or at least not enough meaningful stuff. Not without too much filler anyway... If nothing else it'll ease the chapter count a bit.

Oh well, let's talk shop. The new poll is going well with some thirty nine votes to it. Woot. Also there's a new Subreddit out there called Kuroinu_fanfiction that I joined. Feel free to come on by; I'll be lurking and posting there and with luck more Kuroinu fics will be featured there.

For this chapter we've moving up north towards Caul... And of course someone is unhappy with the state of things and is about to try and do something about it. What will happen?

Read and find out.

[ - Act II - Chapter XXIII: Fluent in Violence - ]

Central Barony of Bria
Outside of the Capital of Aphrodite City
Resort Near Sweetheart Lake

"Tsk. I can't believe it..." John Mandeville let off as his image projected itself before one Count Arnold von Blitzhaus via voxlux. "I simply cannot fathom that brat's luck in confounding us..."

"Indeed..." Arnold let off with a huff as he leaned into his seat, a table before him with a glass upon it. At the moment he was in a room rented out on a resort in the Barony of Bria. Bria's rulers, House Venus, had noted that a lot of tired and frustrated lords came out of the Council twice a year and, thus, set up a resort in their realm near a lake. Whores, swimming, relaxation, drinking (And less... savory things to partake of) and more enticed most of the seventy three rulers and their entourage over for rest, relaxation as well as giving a less formal place for the lords to talk, make amends, make deals and such. His rented quarters were a large hut with rooms for himself, his son and his daughter. Channer was still on the road on his journey and his last son, Jaeger, was at home minding Elddale's affairs. Despite being a hut luxury was everywhere; fine drinks and foods, soft beds, a bath and hot tub and a pool within throwing distance. And he needed it...

"Indeed, but it is a setback that can be overcome..." Arnold said with a sigh. "Thankfully Beardsley is on his way to Elddale to help ensure all is in order but I would ask you for help as well." As much as both men disliked the voxlux's creator and was wary of what was in it the fact was it was too useful a tool to not use and it let the two good friends connect across such far distances once he had one sent to him... Of course that is so long as they minded the topic of conversation. No mention of why he was asking for such help was said and even if James was listening in (He stated he deliberately left out the ability to do so from his creation during the Council and Arnold was sure of it... But on the off chance he was lying he couldn't take the risk except in an emergency) he would have nothing of proof of ill dealings.

"I shall rush to your aide at once my friend, count on it." Arnold's friend and mentor said as he let himself smile.

"Good... Speaking of our mutual annoyance and his confounding of us... How is Cyrus?" Arnold asked. John sighed as he slumped in his seat.

"Better now. I still want to give the little brat a talking to for being so, bloody reckless; even if his intent was good." He let out. "We got his prosthetic arm fitted recently. Pure mythril, of course. Unfortunately as it was his right arm that was claimed we're finding that learning to use the new arm as fluently as his old one will take some weeks if not months. On top of that the Noxdecus bastard has enough of Celestine's favor to have her contact King Xerander. I had to, in no uncertain terms... relinquish my claims on Riri..." He hissed out as Arnold's eyes widened.

"Damn it..." Arnold let off. "Just... Damn it..." In general asking someone to give up their slaves was not done, even by the ruler of the nation. Owning slaves was a sacred tradition, passed down from the days of the great and mighty Imperium. A master was the sole decider of his or her slave's fate... That Riri had been out of reach for years was a nuance. That he was forced to release her, end all claims to her... It was a grievous wound to a slavist. "... Shit, that means if he ever brings her up here I can do nothing about it..."

"Tsk." John let off reaching over for something as he huffed, pouring something into something. A moment later he could see the elder man taking a sip of a whiskey. "That's just salt in the wound. What's the bloody asshole doing now? I imagine he's still in Ken? Thanking Mommy Celestine for her help, no doubt." He let off in a mocking tone.

"Sadly we are not so lucky. He's been installing devices to bolster his communications network." Arnold said. He had his own drink before him; a vodka mixed with a cranberry juice. "Celestine declared that each Shield Princess would escort him about their respective kingdoms. As we speak now he rides north towards Caul to install another one of these boosters."

"Hmmm... Indeed?" Mandeville let off, sipping his drink. Arnold knew he was in thought; of what exactly he didn't know but he had his guesses. "Hmm... How long will it take him to get there?"

"Roughly? Depends on how he rides and how the weather holds; but he can be there in another five odd days." Arnold answered. "Four if the horses are pushed hard and six if enough rain arrives to slow him down."

"Indeed... Thank you. I think I have a letter to write once we are done." John said with a smirk as he swirled his drink slowly in his grip.

[-]

The County of Arndale is mostly known as the place where the Battle of Sulden (Often called the Battle of Arndale for better or for worse) took place. Arndale was formed when two baronies, Arnden and Oxdale, united as one house marrying the former's son to the latter's daughter. Houses Terrancan and Huxan ceased to be and united as House Terrahux.

Sadly, House Terrahux would only last until the Pox washed over the realm; the family would be gutted almost in full. Former Count Alex Terrahux came out of retirement but was too old to sire a new heir and would fall ill (Not to the Pox) soon after. Donald Terrahux was the next Count, but at eight years old had no capacity to rule and would abdicate his rule at the age of sixteen; eloping with the then heiress of Peerus. The last member of Terrahux to hold the position was Helen Terrahux; a cousin borne of a father from House Drake and suffered from that house's inbreeding problem by being barren and unable to sire children. Before dying however she chose an heir from another house; Johnathan Robert Flarewing.

Flarewing was an odd choice as he didn't hail from any form of nobility; he was an orphan who did odd jobs as a child to make ends meet, being brought into the Arndale Regular Army at age fifteen, knighted at age sixteen due to exceptional bravery and action beyond the call of duty, rose to the lieutenant of those forces at age twenty and became the Captain of the Arndale Castle guard at age twenty five. In Helen's opinion he was more then able to hold the role. The Council of Lords were less then happy that an orphan of unknown stock rose to the position but due to the pox ravaging the upper classes better options were few and far between on top of Johnathan's record being exemplary. Rather then attempt to remove him they simply proposed he take a wife from noble stock; the woman who would volunteer for this being Carrie Zigmund, youngest daughter of the Count of Jetra.

Since then House Flarewing has been popular with the common folk; showing how far a person can rise from the lowest parts of society with hard work, effort, talent and a bit of luck.

~Dominic James Pencraft, The Eostia Historia

[-]

The only issue with having Celestine riding with us was she was a bit... distracting at times. She was a beautiful woman with... How do I put this? Well... She had Large Tracts of Land, shall we say. And they jiggled when the carriage rocked. A lot. Yes, Alicia and Claudia weren't exactly covered or lacking in the boobage department, but she just had an aura about her... And even more boobage.

Aside from that, though, she was good company. As it turns out that while she played card games with the children she raised she didn't know some games; namely poker, blackjack and, oddly enough, Old Maid. I was happy to teach her, of course, and the two of us along with my sister and Riri played a number of games. It was good fun and she seemed to enjoy it.

Then I taught her Rock, Paper, Scissors. She and Miria got way to into it...

In regards to the meeting's aftermath she had an aide take the lead into the audit of Elddale which I imagine was annoying to Arnold although I expected it would do little real damage. If we were lucky something would be amiss enough to give Celestine enough cause to deny his rise without drawing the Council's ire. In addition my parents started to return to Mungale and was part of a convoy that included Jamaica Galeraven and Grise Rongera of all people. Most of the lords, however, moved eastwards into the resorts of Bria. There was a chance we'd pass that way on our way south; we'll see.

According to my father Grise was eager to talk trade and he was happy to oblige. He agreed with me that Grise wasn't a real friend, but she could be an ally... Although not a trusted one. Still; both Mungale and Delconna both needed trade to boost their own wealth so it was in both side's interests to help each other. At least for now.

Also, Uncle Fredrick was in charge of Mungale while he was at the Council and... well, who knew what trouble he'd gotten up to while Merlin was gone?

As for us our first stop was the County of Arndale; home of the famous Battle of Arndale. Along with us was a small convoy of other lords; Arndale's Ruling House of Flarewing, the Barony of Smol's House of Moonchilde, the County of Erogus' House of Rigald and, lastly, the Slave Barony of Caul's House of Angelus. The Rigald segment would break off from us after Arndale as they would be going northeast as the rest of us went northwest.

There was a splattering of trees and small forests here and there but much of it was plains and grasslands. We would spend some time in Golden Oak, a small but rather famous town built around an enchanted golden oak that was planted on the first year anniversary of the founding of Eostia. The tree was now two hundred feet tall and thirty feet around at the base with leaves colored a bright gold with bronze veins.

Another day's ride brought us to Arndale's capital of Fireheart City. The outer walls were colored orange and held fifty foot walls and massive towers with seventy foot walls behind it; but rather then standard towers there was turret's built into the walls, spaced out the same distance as towers would be with these sections being thicker. The gates were large and boasted the emblem of House Flarewing above them.

The shield's shape was a bit odd; a flat top with the ends softly curving down before dropping down harder for a moment before curving in then back out before forming an extension that was talon shaped pointing down and in before counting down curving in more before come down to a point. The outline was a thick red with darker red on both sides of it and a yellow background. In both of the top corners is a feather that was orange in color with the darker red as an outline. In the center of the top was a red heart with flames extending out of the upper left with a darker red outline. The dominant part of the emblem, however, was a tribal like bird with fire like wings in orange with the dark red outline; a phoenix and the main emblem of House Flarewing.

The city within bore buildings that was a mix of normal whitewashing and those painted in combinations of red, yellow and orange as we rode to the castle inside the city. Fairly standard for castles; another sixty foot outer wall, a square keep with towers in each corner. Really, aside from the orange paint it was pretty normal. Once we arrived and parked we stepped out with myself offering Celestine a hand to disembark; not that she needed it, truth be told. From ahead of us a tall man with a thick, groomed red beard stepped out of his own carriage; a sheathed claymore in hand with a dark gold colored cross guard (In reality it was orichalcum) shaped like wings with a large, red spell stone in it's center, a red colored handle and a pommel that looked like a bird's tail. At about six two and with broad shoulders he made quite the figure. His hair framed his face and came with a braid that dropped to his waist. A red great coat with long tails covered his torso with the phoenix emblem's outline stitched into the back of it in red. Black pants tucked into red boots ended the look as he turned his green eyes to us. "Everyone! Welcome to my home! Arndale Castle shall be your home for the night!"

(-)

Name: Robert Flarewing
Title: The Phoenix Count
Class: Warlord
Level: 39
Alignment: Friendly
Reputation: 42
Status: Healthy, Happy, Proud

Known Traits
[?]
[Heart of Fire] You have an affinity with the fire element. +15% damage and effect to all fire spells, Combat Arts and abilities
[Soul of Fire] In spite of your class you can cast spells, but only Fire based ones. +2 to Mag and Mnc.

[?]

Grandson of Pearson Flarewing who was considered one of the greatest heroes to the common man of Eostia he has tried his best to follow in his example. While he's hasn't reached the heights Pearson has he is still well regarded by the common folk; often moving around his realm to help fight Aberrant and bandits directly with the held of the Searing Talon.

(-)

The Searing Talon was the blade of Pearson Flarewing, clearly passed down to his grandson; a two handed claymore made of orichalcum and given a series of fire enchantments. Keep in mind, orichalcum weapons were fairly rare, even in the upper classes; case in point being that Alicia and Claudia both had mythril weapons which was a step down. There were tales of it's forging and Pearson himself was something of a legend; mistaken as a Dragonborne because of his bright, purple eyes and casting Flamethrower spells from his mouth he is one of the few people to pick a fight a one on one fight with Olga Discordia and not only drive her back but is one of the few men who survived her Annihilation Stream by dodging it. Needless to say the book 'The Phoenix's Rise' is a popular book among the people.

As we moved to the keep one of the other lords slowed his pace to look to me and speak. "We never got to speak much, did we Young Noxdecus? Fredrick Rigald, Count of Erogus." He was, by contrast, an older man in his late fifties. He bore a halo of white hair being his head and a wrinkled, grandfatherly face. He wore off-black robes with a steel-blue trim, white pants visible under said robes tucked into black boots. In one hand was a simple, black cane capped with a blue spell stone within it's curved handle.

His own House's emblem was on his chest; a knight's shield with a pair of slightly raised corners and much higher raised center and bottom curve that started moderate then made a deeper drop to a point. It bore a thick, dark blue outline with a thin, white line in it's center. The background was steel blue with the top half boasting a pair of white, open wings with the points raising upwards, outlined in dark blue with a pair of Larentian Crosses on either side of them white with a thin, dark blue outline. Under them and filling the shield's bottom half was a knight on a horse with a plumed helmet and holding a spear with a cloth hanging off under the point; white once more with a dark blue outline.

(-)

Name: Fredrick Rigald
Title: Count of the Crusaders
Class: Sage
Level: 48 (-5)
Alignment: Friendly
Reputation: 56
Status: Healthy - Aged, Relaxed, Tired

Known Traits
[Aging Body] Your body is aging, like it or not. You are treated as 5 Levels lower then your actual level; all of your stats aside from Mag and Mnc are reduced by 4.

[?]
[Support Main] Your healing, restorative and bolstering spells are enhanced. +5% Effect to all such spells.
[Age & Wisdom] You have learned much over the years about many of magic's secrets. +7% to Mag and Mnc. +4 to all Magical Damage and Healing

One of the few, dedicated mages in his line Fredrick nonetheless proved himself worthy in the fires of battle against Garan's since a young age. A dedicated healer who has kept his men fighting fit he is planning to retire from his post soon due to age as well as having just recovered from his horseback riding accident.

(-)

"Pleasure to meet you, Count Fredrick. I imagine it's hard to meet and remember so many lords." I said as he chuckled to me softly.

"Oh, you learn. Until you do, best to keep notes." He chuckled a bit, reaching out and patting my shoulder. "But regardless, I didn't just ask that to say 'hi' and introduce myself. Before I break from the convoy to my own holdings I felt the need to establish a relationship with you. I maybe retiring soon, but it's clear to anyone with eyes you've ideas and something tells this old Count that getting to know you and starting good relations isn't a bad idea; doubly so as my daughter will be in need of friends when she takes over once I retire."

"Ah, right. I heard about your accident..." I replied, nodding in thought. The doors to the keep were opened for us and as we walked in I noted the red, stone floor and orange walls; the Emblem of House Flarewing carved into the floor before the stairs with colored stone (Likely reformed with an earth spell) filling in the carved sections. "Good to know you're back on your feet."

"Thank you, lad. Thank you. Ah, while I'm thinking of it... That chess game of yours I heard of from Tantan..." He began as I tilted my head to encourage him to keep speaking. "If it's working like he said mind if I use it a bit? I wish to challenge Stark Angelus to a match and it sounds like it'll make for quite the experience."

I can imagine...

[-]

Central Barony of Caul
Second Wing City
The Wide Net Pub & Inn

As pubs went the Wide Net wasn't too bad. A bit too brightly lit for the tastes of one Brendon Lightstep, but that was way of things; he was a person who felt more comfortable in the shadows, in crowds or in privacy alone or with what friends and trusted associates he had. On the other hand the tables were given a light stain highlighting their natural grain, the seats covered in red, leather padding, a sexy looking bard was in the corner plucking at a harp, the ale was good, the food better and it was near the local Adventure's Guild. Unlike Caul's capital, Pluma Alba City, Second Wing City's Guild was small; an office with a board for jobs and living space only for the administrator and his assistant and his slave. For those seeking a drink, a bite or to socialize and compare notes one had to go somewhere else; like the nearby pub.

After all there were only three people who gossiped more then housewives; nobility, sailors and adventurers. Additionally it was a good place to find hired help for bigger jobs; either individual adventurer's willing to work under the table for some coin or someone who was a part of a larger mercenary group. Normally you'd see a Black Dog or two in the mix but with their outfit in Dominious to fight in the civil war the largest merc group present was the Blutige Greifen; or their better known name once translated, the Bloody Griffins.

Brendon huffed as his one eye and his spell stone eye both turned to look at the bard. She didn't have much of a rack but her body was well shaped and her face looked like a carved piece of art. He would have kept watching save he saw something from the side of his flesh and blood eye, reaching out and snatching a paper bird from the air with a thumb and finger. The shimmery, green color was a clear sign it was a sheet of mana paper from Balanar. He knew who it was from before unfolding it and moving to read the letter.

---

Brendon, with luck nothing befalls this letter before it reaches
you. I will skip to the point; Cyrus made a misplay attempting
to reclaim Riri for me. It was defeated and King Xerander
was contacted by Celestine; in the end I was forced to rescind
all claims to her. This cannot be accepted, but as this is an
order from the King himself I've one last recourse at this
juncture.

She belongs to me and if I cannot possess her then none shall.
I want her dead and due to a stroke of luck James is on a job
that shall bring him to Caul's capital. This will be our best shot
in slaying her. However it is not without risk. His escort to
Caul is the High Queen herself and, as such, they'll be
accompanied by the Dawn Templars. Needless to say this
attempt will be difficult. Moreover I do not want you to
involve yourself with the attack in person; I cannot afford my
connection to this attempt to be known to anyone.

Hire mercenaries at your discretion; I've sent another letter to
my offices in Second Wing City so my coffers there will be at
your disposal; all of it. As her master her life is mine to decide
or end. If possible I also want James' death as well, but that is
secondary. So long as we act by proxy there's no reason to not
go all out for this; doubly so with the odds.
I will not lie to you, Brendon, the odds are difficult but I know
well what you can come up with. If any man in my employ
can pull this off it is you. Remind them both that the master's
right comes first. Good luck and may the Nine guide you.

Sir John Mandeville

---

"Shit... Well isn't that just a kick right in the teeth..." Brendon let off with a sigh, moving to take a long drink of his ale as he thought. If he picked up the High Queen at Ken then he'd more then likely be under a week's ride from Caul, meaning his time while limited would be more then enough to hire the right band of coin hungry mercenaries... And if he had all the money he needed to hire, well...

He took a glance over to a series of men at a table drinking and laughing, one of them being an orc. One of the humans, meanwhile, bore a black, red trimmed great coat with an emblem on the back featuring a red griffin.

He had an idea of who to hire... After all, according to the rumors they had a hell of a secret weapon...

[-]

The smallest of Ken's territories and one of it's northern most ones along with Erogus and tucked behind Caul, the Barony of Smol's name comes from it's founding family, House Smol. When it joined Eostia it was a county and a slave state that relied on it's plantations to grow sugar and cotton for trade but by chance found a large vein of mythril under it's southeast. The wealth that came in allowed them to build more advanced industry for cloth, rum, tools and weaponry. House Smol would rule their Barony as a slave state until 621 AF when Victor Smol ended the practice; he felt it was no longer required and adjusted his realm to a limited state.

However House Smol would perish during the Great Pox and would be replaced by House Carson for a few months before they too fell to the pox. House Wunder would take over and considered returning Smol to a slave state and by all accounts was about to when the first Garan invasion came. House Wunder was annihilated in totality aside from Harriet Wunder who would be captured and used by the Legion. By the time she was rescued three years later she had suffered use as a broodmare and pleasure whore and her uterus was too damaged to carry anyone's child. House Wunder, sadly and unfortunately, died with only a whimper.

Once the horde and dark elves were driven back the local guard captain, Peter Moonchilde, would assume control of the County as Acting Count for five years and another incursion while Eostia attempted to recover and reinforce their northern lines. In the end Celestine formalized Peter's place as a proper Count rather then appoint another.

Sadly the Garanian attacks reduced it's status to that of a Barony as they spent their riches on mercenaries and new fortifications to defend against the northern onslaught. Reduced to a Barony Smol still maintains a level of wealth and power that suggested it may yet return to it's former status.

~Dominic James Pencraft, The Eostia Historia

[-]

A couple day's ride brought us up to Smol; much like Ken and Arndale the terrain was flat and fertile but you could see hills in the east off in the distance. It was where one of the few mythril mines in Eostia were found; although questions of how much was left was being asked if rumors were right. Still that left Smol as one of the richer baronies in Eostia. Robert Flarewing, of course, remained in Arndale but made sure we had a grand dinner in his castle before we left; coupled with a series of dancing girls for entertainment.

Fredrick Rigald stayed with us for an hour before turning eastwards to Erogus. That left us with the House Moonchilde (Who's holdings we were now in) and House Angelus (Who's holdings we were riding to) contingents joining us as we approached the capital of Smol, Smolborough. From a distance the city was quite powerful looking; thick, sixty foot walls and a sizable moat. Fed by a large creek that also fed the moat of our nearby destination, Castle Smol... Which was anything but 'small'.

For starters the castle was built with a Motte and Bailey set up; which is to say a walled, gated off keep attached to a second walled off keep behind it. The walls of the first part, the Bailey, bore sixty foot walls backed by a second layer of seventy foot walls; all with towers. The Motte behind it was on a small hill, raised up by maybe forty feet with sixty foot walls and towers; a set of thirty foot walls connecting the gates of the two. The Motte's keep was an impressive hundred and thirty feet tall while the frontal Bailey's was a wider but shorter eighty feet tall but with four corner towers that hit one hundred feet tall. Every bit of it was white washed and with the Moonchilde banner flying over each tower and the front gates.

The top of the banner was an octagonal shape but stretched out horizontally and squashed down vertically a little. Part way into the bottom, angled parts it would angle out slightly, down slightly and then attach to a larger circle. The whole thing was a dark purple with a dark, gold outline. In the top segment was a series of two rows with ten, six sided stars going across it; silver with a dark gold outline. Under it them was a thin, crescent moon with the silhouette of a winged child sitting on it, leaning back a little; both silver with a dark gold outline.

We would pass over a drawbridge into the dual walls and move towards the first keep and step out once we were parked. For the most part there wasn't too much to talk about; this time our host was Richard Moonchilde who would ensure we would be fed and housed. Aside from me asking to utilize a magical lab for a bit to carry on with the Hybrid Enhancement spell I had planned for Riri's weapon not much happened. The spell was still not usable but I was sure I was close to a breakthrough...

After dinner I had intended to retire to do some work but before I could leave a polite cough drew my attention. I turned to face the woman who would be my next host; a five foot seven woman with gray-lavender eyes under black rimmed glasses and set onto a very firm looking face. Her hair was in a short, chin length bob cut; the left bangs hanging beside her eyes and the right just behind her ear. Her body was covered in a white blouse with ruffles over the chest that fitted over C-Cup breasts with a short, blue tie with a red stripe near the bottom and a gold pendant near the top of it. Her legs was clad in black tights and a dark blue, pencil skirt that fell just over her knees. Over her midsection was a corset that was black with gold colored trim and designs, matching her gloves and two inch heeled boots. A golden piece at her right hip on her corset attached to two gold chains wrapping behind her where some other small, gold piece hung off. Finally a purple coat hung off her shoulders; long enough to reach the bottom hem of her skirt and hanging off her like a cape. "James Noxdecus, I would have words with you."

(-)

Name: Stark Angelus
Title: Stern Baroness of Caul
Class: Summoner
Level: 31
Alignment: Neutral
Reputation: 31
Status: Healthy, Controlled, Assertive

Romance Rating: 77
Corruption Rating: 27

Known Traits
[?]
[Secret Romantic] You try and hide it or deny it but you are more interested in romance then you care to admit. Gain Romance Values for someone you desire at a higher rate then normal
[Bathed in Light] You have a talent for Holy class magic. -5% Mana Cost when using Holy spells. +5% Mag & Str when using Holy spells or combat arts

[Confident] You are always sure about what you'll do and can rapidly plan in event something happens. +2 to Luck

Current Baroness of Caul, she is known to be shrewd, polite and confident. Her current focus is uplifting her Barony through trade, new industry and investments while using slaves as the backbone of her labor. While her House has implemented some reforms she herself sees value in the use of collared workers.

(-)

Yeah, she was a Traditionalist. Hoo boy... "Can I help you?" I kept my tone polite, even and relaxed; although I was sure a little chill seeped into it. While we had natural... differences in ideology that made us opponents politically the truth be told at the end of the day we were both Eostians and under the Aegis Alliance Accords; in that sense we were allies. Allies at risk of saying 'we are struggling together', but allies nonetheless. That said she had little reason to like me, I had less reasons to like her but there was an expectation of politeness and courtesy to give out. Unlike with the Mandevilles I couldn't get away with telling her which one of my ass cheeks to kiss.

"We will be in my domain soon." She said, reaching up to adjust her glasses as she fixed me with a stern look through the rims. "And I have heard of your little maid's... previous state of employment, shall we say. Can I trust there won't be any more slaves miraculously finding their way across a border during your stay at Caul?" So that's what this is about. I should have guessed, really.

I did, in fact, smuggle Riri out of Elddale years ago; that's why that old, wrinkled fart Mandeville was upset with me to start with... And the fact that he failed twice to get her back and his son lost an arm on attempt number three likely didn't help. "That's not in my plans; and with all due respect I'd rather not have an extended stay; I'm behind my schedule to begin with." I said back curtly. "And likely, given my journey, I've other delays to look forwards to."

"I would hope not." She let off, giving a brief huff. "Even if the claim on the little one is rescinded, I do not intend to allow the laws of my realm to be subverted."

"And where did you hear that from?" I said, curiously as I raised my eyebrow. That information wasn't secret but it wasn't exactly widespread either; I'd only heard it days ago and aside from maybe Blitzhaus I didn't expect someone like her to take an interest.

She gave a shrug. "I'm well informed." She replied simply. Bullshit; there's only one of two people that news came from; Mandeville or Celestine and if it came from Celestine she would have no reason to hide it. The question then; how direct did the news come to her? From Mandeville directly or someone who was a mutual connection? If the former I might need to be on guard; I knew Mandeville had more allies then just Blitzhaus in the Traditionalists but I wasn't aware if Stark was or wasn't one of them. If nothing else they might be business partners to some degree or at least share the same ones. "But regardless, consider yourself... informed." She said in a tone more befitting of a word like 'warned'. She turned on her heel, said heel and it's twin clacking on the floor as she retreated towards her room as I gave a soft huff.

"It's sad..." I heard as I looked over to see Celestine as she moved to stand next to me, looking to the Baroness with a tired, pitiful look. It was a bit odd to me but she was a highly emphatic person.

"Sad, Cele?" I let off questioningly as she looked towards me.

"Stark Angelus is a smart woman. She is known to be caring to others and I've seen her dote on children... Such a sweet girl herself as a child..." She said, shutting her eyes as she sighed. "...She is not evil, James, at least not truly. Misguided, really. She is not unaware of the damage slavery has caused those in chains and it is the source of her reforms of the practice in her realm, and yet... And yet she sees it as a necessity; that her realm requires such cheap 'labor'... Even as many her peer baronies rise in wealth as her own stagnates."

"That's what's the worst thing about slavery, I think." I said with a sigh. "Not that it's a great evil but rather it's that otherwise good or decent people see it as normal..."

"Indeed..." She said before smiling. "Still, Grise Rongera's abolishment of the practice, regardless of her reasons, grants me hope. After all; I only have another nine states to await abolishment." Indeed; due to the Aegis Alliance Accords she couldn't ban slavery on the national level if there was so much as one vote opposing it; it was written in as a right because of the state of the realm two thousand years past and such rights required unanimous support to overturn... But when Celestine took over as High Queen the nation was tipping more and more to abolition and since then the slavist power waned... Although I was sure they'd refuse to go out with a whimper; the Traditionalist attempting a civil war was possible; if rather doomed. Of course if they tried such a thing Celestine could just replace the lot of them, call for abolition at the next meeting and then it would be over and done with.

That made me worry of what they'd attempt then...

[-]

Central Barony of Caul
Outside of Second Wing City
Bloody Griffin's Camp

Brendon made sure his face was well covered as he moved into the mercenary camp; he left his usual coat behind in favor of a black cloak with a hood, covering his lower face with a black bandanna while a set of glasses with a dark tint on his face was used to hide his eye color and his spell stone eye from view. Compared to many other mercenary groups the Bloody Griffins were very well armed and trained. He could even see five members training under a veteran, ogre warrior; striking training blades into posts that were set up. Several red tents were set up; smaller ones for individual or partnered members, larger ones for groups or storage and so on. The Griffins were well regarded as an outfit as long as you didn't mind paying for brutality; their leader was no Vult to be sure but he was competent and powerful.

In comparison to the Black Dogs the Bloody Griffins were much smaller and the lacked the presence the King of Mercenaries had but each member was better equipped; metal armor was common and only units like archers and mages wore anything in cloth or leather. Every weapon was quality and well kept and they even had cavalry. In short you hired the Black Dogs when you needed a large army with a great commander and you hired the Bloody Griffins when you needed a smaller but better army with still talented leadership.

He paused at the red command tent that boasted a pair of banners on either side of the flaps. In shape they were tall with the bottom angling in to a flat bottom. Just below the top had a small, short angle outwards before going straight up to a flat top. The outline was dark red and the background was pure black. In the center of it was a series of bright red, panel like pieces that took the shape of a griffin; wings extending upwards, a tail the turned up and in and one, front claw lifted up to chest height; a white skull in ti's grip. Both the griffin and skull bore a thick, dark red outline with a series of drips coming off the skull. Under it was a pair of Gothic letters in bright red with a dark red, dripping outline; 'BG' with the 'B' slightly raised over the 'G'.

Looking ahead once more he walked into the tent proper; a large table was set in the rear with a seat behind it and three before it. Other seats were on the sides of the tent along with crates and a travel trunk suggesting it was used as both a meeting room and additional storage as needed. Two guards in segmented, splint mail stood on guard behind the desk and to either side; the metal covered with a red tabard with the Bloody Griffin emblem on the front and both holding spears. At the desk was a man in rather heavy, powerful looking plate armor.

The plates looked to be some grade of mythril given the silver hue of it (He suspected pure, but three quarter was possible) and it looked thick. Panels at the hips and the pauldrons bore bronze, winged designs with the breastplate bearing a griffin facing forwards with a large, oval, blood red spell stone in it's beak holding it tight, likely further boosting the armors defenses. The helm was on the desk; the same silver hue with bronze, wing designs on the sides, tight to the helm and three, long, red feathers extending out of the back and top of it. A red cape finished the look as Brendon sat down. "So, yer the client, eh?" The man said; his accent tinged with a northern Dominious tone that made him sound even more imposing.

As for the man himself he was a bear of a man; he was seated so it was hard to tell his full height beyond 'very tall' but his face looked like it was carved from rough stone with a cropped, black beard and mustache over his face. His hair looked like it was kept cropped but hadn't been cut in sometime, leaving it slightly shaggy. A long scar ran from his left forehead, over the nose, over the right cheek and off the right jaw. Another, smaller one nicked at the left side, just visible under the beard and extending enough to poke out from the facial hair. Another nicked over his nose from right to left, angling down slightly. Yet another was on the right side of the forehead, running down and nicking through the eyebrow. It spoke of a man who saw battle after battle as his face alone told of tales of hard won glory. His name was known only as Godzislaw the Juggernaut. Given his build and armor he had to agree with the nickname.

"I'm a representative of your client who, because of the nature of the job, requires strict anonymity." Brendon told him smoothly. "I have access to his coffers and I am allowed to dig as deep as I require. And I assure you, those coffers are deep enough to drown even a man of your size in. The job will pay twenty platinum upfront-" He said as Godzislaw's eyes widened. "-and one hundred upon completion."

"One hundred platinum!?" The man let off in surprise. His eyes started to narrow. "Mal'chik, either what you propose is too good to be true or one hell of a job to offer so much valuable coin."

"Rest assured, the job is real and the job is going to pay..." Brendon told him, leaning in. "But the difficulty and risk are rather high. Your target is under escort by someone who is quite powerful and boasts her own powerful bodyguards. Have you heard of the voxlux, yet?"

"Bits and pieces, da. Enough to want a few of my own." Godzislaw admitted. "A pet project from a bogatyy soplyak, a rich brat."

"Yes... A rich brat under the personal protect of Celestine Lucross as he builds a supporting network for his toys; with one in Caul's capital within the next few days." Brendon told him as the man cupped his chin.

"Indeed... Celestine is no warrior of any caliber... But she'll be with the suka armiya that is the Dawn Templars." Godzislaw said, crossing his arms. "Hmmm... Bah. I see why offer is so high now. One hundred and twenty platinum is a lot of money. Deystvitel'no mnogo deneg... Why does does your client want him dead?"

"Not just him." Brendon let off. After all, if he just told him who to kill that would tip anyone with a brain off who might be behind it. "Him and three other targets. With him is a Catalan archer, a Halfling maid and bodyguard and an Elven mage. All four are to die."

"Hmmm, chetyre... chetyre..." Godzislaw let off. "Hmm... Is the lord the real target or is it one of the other three?" Brendon managed to not react to it. He knew the man was smarter then he let on but didn't think he'd pick up on it like that. "Bah. Fine. But the job you ask for... Is not... It's not easy... Sovsem ne legko... You want it done? One hundred up front in platinum. Two hundred more when the job is done."

Brendon expected the price to go upwards, and even assumed that he'd be paying an additional fifty to two hundred before it was said and done. "Done deal." He said reaching to his side, pulling out a heavy sack of coins and dropping them on the desk, followed by another. "That's fifty. If you want the other half of the upfront I can bring it here tomorrow or you can bring a man to town with me to get it."

"Alexander!" Godzislaw bellowed out in a loud voice, loud enough that Brendon flinched Quickly a man in quality, leather gambeson armor walking into the tent as he saluted. "This man is giving us payment. Follow him and go collect it and bring it to me. Ne meshkay."

"Of course, Godzislaw." 'Alexander' let off with a nod. Brendon stood up and nodded.

"Good doing business with you all." He said before turning to leave as Alexander moved to follow. Once they were gone Godzislaw would stand up, rising to his full six foot eight height. Moving to a chest to the side of the room he opened it and pulled out a bottle of whiskey with two glasses before looking to the two guards.

"Uvolen." Godzislaw barked out simply as the pair saluted and marched out of the tent quickly. Moving to the desk the huge man set the glasses down and filled both of them before retaking his seat. "What do you think, Schwartz?" A shimmer in the corner of the room and a woman seemed to appeared from thin air; in reality she was simply under an illusion spell.

Standing at around five foot ten she bore a haughty look on her face with cold blue eyes looking back to him. Red painted lips frowned in thought as short, black hair a little longer then chin length hung around her head. Her body bore a tight, black leotard with sleeves, a cut out around her C-Cup breasts, a loincloth that turned blue with a black, trimmed pattern at the bottom with stiffened, black, cloth pauldrons with gold trim and a pair of black, feather like half capes hanging to waist length. Both hands bore mythril, claw like extensions over the black gloves. The brass and steel covered belt wrapped around her hips with a blue, gold trimmed cloth hanging off the right side of the hips. A set of black stockings covered the legs with brass, covered high heeled shoes on each foot. In her hand was a mythril staff with a large, bladed blue spell stone at the top with metal extensions around the bladed stone with three, claw like extensions and one wrap around the top of the shaft. The bottom was pointed with a slight cross guard; the staff seven feet tall.

Schwartz the Nightraven moved to the seat across the desk, letting her staff go as it stood on it's own and sat down across from him, crossing her legs. "Tell me... Why do you accept this job so easily? You could have asked for four times the initial offer, yes? Are you interested in the job or a chance at killing that elfenschlampe?" By contrast she spoke with a western Dominious accent; thick yet smooth.

"You know why... That woman... Etot malen'kiy el'fiyskiy brodyaga... For hundreds of years she has pushed back against our homeland... Our Rodina!" He growled out, picking up his own glass and swirling it about softly. "I was the one in charge of the invasion of Camafran... I was the one who led the frontal charge... I was the one who decimated their cities for invasion... And it was she who gave orders for the Foeh nations to fight us. She who permitted them to destroy our dockyards with two combined navies... And she was the one who ordered my surrender to Camafran in the so called peace settlements! Chert by pobral etu shlyukhu!" He let off before downing half his glass in one go. He swallowed and snorted before looking across to the woman. "If it wasn't for you I would have been beheaded."

"Pffft..." The woman let off, sipping her drink. "Just be glad I found someone large enough to act as a body double... And that they didn't discover the illusion I placed on it..." Indeed, without that man's corpse she would have a much harder time rescuing Godzislaw. "But regardless, striking down Celestine herself won't be so easy; not with the Morgendliche Huren guarding her."

"Perhaps..." Godzislaw let off, nodding slowly as he finished his whiskey and poured himself another. "But they are women; better equipped and trained then most, but just women. They are as mortal as you and I. As for Celestine she is a slabak. Truslivyy. Durak s bol'shimi sis'kami. She will not fight herself, she is a silly little pacifist. She is harmless; only an issue because her tolstaya zadnitsa sits on the throne."

"So you want to use Maus to help handle the huren and reach her, eh? Still; we have to deal with the lordling and his little friends." Schwartz pointed out, finger aimed to him as she held her glass before sipping it. "Mmm... What's your plan for that?"

"You are, my prekrasnyy voron! You and some of the boys will go over and... Well, you can go and do what you do best." Godzislaw let off with a loud, deep chuckle. "Just make sure to leave enough intact to let us prove the job is done. To be paid to enact your own revenge... Ah, Schwartz my friend, yest' chto-nibud' poluchshe?"

"No, there is nothing better!" She replied as he made sure both their glasses were full before clinking them together.

"To mest'!"

"To rache!"

[-]

Central Barony of Bria
Outside of the Capital of Aphrodite City
Resort Near Sweetheart Lake

"Shouldn't you be returning to your holdings, Arnold?" Ryan Stoneshard let off, huffing as he sat across his ally/rival from House Blitzhaus. Both men were wearing a set of trunks; black for Ryan and red for Arnold. "We both know that not all of your dealings are above board." Arnold huffed back; left unsaid was that both of them had 'underground' dealings that would cause concern for their High Queen if she were to ever know of them.

"Don't be absurd. If I were to return too quickly someone might take it as an oddity. No, I must relax while I can and not risk tipping my hand. In the intern Jaeger will be able to get things in order for us."

"We both know Arnold's no fool, Ryan." Reading beside both men was one Alundra van Bludhorn; her body clad in a thong bikini as she read her book. Each of them had a fruity, alcoholic drink in reach. Two stone throws away was the soft sands lining Sweetheart Lake and three stone throws away was the bar with plenty of drinks to be had. At other tables were various other lords and ladies, speaking and either making nice or talking trade. Among the notable absences were the Noxdecuses, the Galeravens, the Adelles ("Too bright for us", Blake von Adelle would say) and most importantly to them, Grise Rongera. There were a few others, of course, but for them those were the ones to note.

Arnold wondered where the strange, thatched hut designs came from as they weren't used anywhere else in Eostia. He had heard they were common in island chains in the southern seas; although these were built to much higher standards, hosting better beds and there was quite an amount of booze stocked in each of them. He also doubted primitive spear fishermen could appreciate a fine wine or a smooth whiskey; he had a hard enough time finding someone who knew the smooth luxury of a nice vodka. That fool Stoneshard sure as hell didn't. "I have asked for assistance from both Beardsley and my good friend John Mandeville. Between both nothing will seem out of place."

"Excellent." Alundra let off before turning her head, seeing two other women as they approached their table; the first not dressed to sun or swim. At five four she bore neck length, curly platinum hair highlighting a face that was well aged, fitted with green eyes. Her torso was covered in a fitted top hugging B-Cup Breasts that was silver with golden vine and floral designs extending from it's collar downwards. White sleeves with similar designs on them while a string of pearls hung around her neck, ending in a tuft of fur held in a long, tubular, golden piece. Her ankle length skirt was a silver-blue with golden designs like the rest with a darker gray trim that matched her boots. A thin, white skirt with a slit in the front hung over the first to just below her knees as a cloth extended under her top and wrapped around her right hip, up under the top once more. "Roxellia, good to see you once more." The Baroness of Albia and leader of House Ardon nodded to the woman who addressed her.

"Mind if we join you?" She asked and seeing the two men and one woman nod took a seat, making sure to give a look and a point to the bar to get a drink for herself and the other woman who sat next to. In contrast the woman with her was younger and stood at five foot six with blonde hair that fell to the top of her thighs, an eight inch long tie near the end of it to pull it all into one, long length. A golden tiara was set over her forehead but aside from that she was wearing just a red, thong bikini with gold colored trim and golden brooch at the center of the top between B-Cup Breasts. She would cross her legs as her mother spoke. "That business with Grise was stressful. Bloody awful..."

"Preaching to the choir, woman." Ryan said with a snort. "I'm more worried about Longroad... Five years from now their deal is done and then the Great Chain breaks in two." He let off, all five seated huffing to various degrees. "If we cannot steer things right..."

Longroad was the weakest link in the Great Slave Chain; as more and more states abolished over the centuries the routes to trade flesh shrank and shrank. Now the slave states of the north (Hol'canna, Maros, Albia, Caul and Elddale) were at risk of being cut off from those in the south (Jerius, Xenera, Alcanth and Anvil; although with a requirement to pass through Balanar for Anvil) if they couldn't maintain Longroad at least as a limited state. The northern states would then be fully cut off from bringing slaves to ports on the Great Sererian Lake for more import and export of collared flesh.

For the Traditionalists this was a major fear; it wasn't just that the north and south would be cut off from each other for legal slave trade, nor the north being cut off from the aforementioned ports but the fact that Abolitionist states did what they could to hamper trade for the Slavist ones without breaking the Aegis Accords. It was getting bad enough that among their most hard line members the word 'assassination' cropped up more then once. There were, however, problems with that; most of the heirs to Longroad were not keen on slavery either and they might have needed to kill a half dozen people to get to someone more favorable to their aims... Which would raise a lot of attention and concern. After all removing a single leader with an 'accident' wasn't going to cause too much worry. When that ruler was about to make a major change a little more concern would come about. When that major change came with several deaths in the line of succession there was a strong chance High Queen Celestine would step in and appoint her own choice and they'd be back at square one if not square minus one.

Blackmail was a better choice but as of yet they didn't have enough leverage they could use at the moment and the last time someone attempted a kidnapping as leverage the plot was blown in days and the victim was recovered weeks later; roughed up but alive and they only just avoided suspicion. For the people collected at their table the options for dealing with Longroad were few and poor. "Ughh, can't we just pull a Trail By War or something?" The younger woman let off, setting her elbow on the table. Replies were paused as a barmaid came by, dropping off new drinks and asking if there was anything else needed. Once told no she would leave them be.

"Brienna, was it?" Alundra asked the younger woman once the maid was out of earshot. The daughter of Roxellia Ardon looked to her and gave a curt nod as she picked up her drink. "Understand this; we need a viable Casus Belli to demand that. So unless House Ambacht does something very stupid or we can pull a very convincing false flag operation it won't happen. Worse, the Adventurer's Guild holds good relations with them; a series of mercenaries and adventurers could well go and fight for them if it came to it. In addition, neither Copperbark or Stolzerlowe have the numbers to face them and Pugnator would find such a thing 'beneath them'." Brienna huffed and crossed her arms under her bust.

"Nevertheless..." Roxellia let off, waving a hand. "That's not exactly why I came to join you. I would ask Arnold about House Noxdecus."

"I've no more information about the voxlux then we heard in the Council." Arnold huffed out, taking a moment to take a long sip of his drink; the glasses were well crafted and made of high quality, spell orb glass with enchantments to keep drinks nice and chilled.

"That's not what I need to know." Roxellia said, swirling her own glass. "My niece, Victoria's daughter, is in their care. Her adoptive mother is minding the western border during Dominious' civil war; aboard Ironside's flagship the Grey Lady. Her current existence is still a thorn in my side..."

"Ah, yes... As the daughter of Victoria and Hexry her claim to the throne of Albia is somewhat greater then yours... Should she desire to claim it..." Arnold let off, huffing. Only a few members of the Traditionalists knew the truth; that through a bit of manipulation and nudging from Roxellia and a couple of proxies she was able to get Hexry's brother and nephew to attempt a coup that was defeated... By those loyal to herself. Of course the deaths of her sister and brother-in-law were 'unfortunate'... And this placed Roxellia herself in a perfect position to elevate herself further upwards as the childless Baroness of House Waterlily was on her deathbed and too weak to do anything... The line of succession would have brought the Barony into the hands of the rightful leader of House Ardon... But with Victoria and Hexry 'sadly' dead that meant their heir, Theophania, would take the throne... Of course as a three year old child she needed a regent...

Of course it was easy enough to order the child to meet an unfortunate end... Only to have her own nephew inject himself and steal her away. She was forced to disown them both in an effort to protect her power, but it was years before she found out that she was being raised by Aurelia Embercoat; a woman strong enough to not cross lightly. In the fifteen years since the child's exile she knew Theophania, or Tiffany as she was called, grew in strength. Not enough to be a threat and she had yet to assemble any sort of power to overthrow her but the fact she was alive meant her own rule had been questioned time to time; not enough to destabilize her seat of power... But were there ever to be a moment of turmoil in Albia...

Well, it wouldn't hurt to be sure.

"You seek to ensure she cannot oppose you?" Alundra let off calmly as Roxellia nodded.

"Indeed. If I were to send someone I would like to know what I'm up against." The Baroness asked as Brienna leaned back in her seat, holding her drink rocking her foot up and down.

"I would be careful..." Arnold said sternly, leaning over the table. "Neither Merlin nor his wife are to be trifled with. Nor is their guard captain; he might seem like a buffoon but he's powerful and a tad more clever then he seems. And by all accounts their head maid, the top heavy dark elf is quite dangerous in her own right. James, the brat, might be relatively weak, for the moment, but from the fights I've heard he was in he's proven slippery as a foe. I also expect that Merlin has taken the girl under his wing and is furthering whatever magic she may know. In short any assassin must be exceptional to get close to the girl. Moreover they must be clever."

"I see... Well, they are Eostian nobility; anything less would reflect poorly upon them." Roxellia said with a sigh. "Hmmph. Well, whatever. I came to power thanks to my patience. I can wait a while longer to see this thorn removed from my side."

"Of course, of course..." Ryan said as he nodded to her. "Speaking of such things; the West Wing Troupe is here performing 'The Assassin and the Lady'. They and their play come quite recommended. Care to join me?"

[-]

The northern most territory of Ken and it's shield against Garan, at current it's Ken's only slave state. A short but wide barony it boasts multiple hills and valleys and while none are overly steep they offer the defending forces an advantage over their Garanian foes. Indeed, much of the their slave labor is dedicated to ensuring forts and defenses are built and in good repair. In addition, like many other border states, they hire mercenaries to add to their ranks and often offer a fort as a base of operations as additional payment to loyal groups.

Additionally the region is known for farms of cattle for dairy and meat, sheep for wool and meat and silkworms for silk (I highly doubt anyone would eat them, mind). This gives them a steady output to gain income in addition to their slave trade and other industries. As for the ruling House of Angelus they are considered quite pious overall with a few moderates; the Larentian Cross is their Shield's lone emblem. Every town has at least one notable church and even the slaves are expected to pray and show their respects to the goddess.

It's little wonder the Church maintains two bases for their own military forces there, in addition to it's proximity to the Garanian front. While the last few Barons of Caul have been more moderate they still maintain good relations with the Una Vertias faction and rumors of another base of theirs in Caul abound; although no such base has ever been found or proven to exsist.

~Dominic James Pencraft, The Eostia Historia

[-]

Before leaving Smol I got a brass piece to attach one of my higher quality spell stones to. I had a bit of paranoia going on... After all; not long into our mission in Ur we got bandits! Not long into our mission in Feoh we got Garan! Not long into our mission in Geofu we got Aberrant! Needless to say I needed to A) do something to take my mind off what could go wrong this time and B) make something that might help with that... Not right now; as much as I wish I could just crank it out I wasn't a miracle worker; I needed time to work and figure out issues...

Additionally once I had it done it would be very useful for my main project. But that was for down the line. For now we were going to Lodoss City; it wasn't the capital of Caul; that was in the Barony's southwest and on the Smol border, as far away from Garan as it could be. I was installing the booster in Lodoss on account that it was a little further north to extend the range upwards a bit more into Garan for what scouts (Namely elven) could deploy there.

Our convoy weaved about small and moderate hills as we rode towards the city but we hadn't reached it as the sun was falling. Baroness Angelus was in another carriage so I used a voxlux to converse with her. We agreed we wouldn't make the city today and so we'd stop at the next settlement. In the end that would be a modest place, somewhere between a village and a town called Glad Creek; set atop a wide but short hill with a creek rounded the hill's base and wrapped around almost three quarters of it. There wasn't much to say about the place; wooden buildings with wooden roofs, the odd stone building... There was a single guard tower; some five stories tall and made of logs and wood. I doubted there was any guards here; just a small militia at best.

We would stop in front of one of the largest buildings in town; a solid, stone wall that stretched up for the first two stories and with two more made of wood atop of it with a higher footprint then the stone wall with log flooring holding up the walls. A sign over the front door labeled it as 'The Glad Rest Pub and Inn' and it looked cozy. I would step out and assist Celestine out as I looked to see Stark step out of her own carriage. Naturally her House emblem was on the side of the door and compared to many it was rather simple and plain looking.

It was a fairly small shield in overall footprint for the emblem; a deep red knight's shield coupled with a golden, thin outline that had a flat top and rounded corners, sides that went straight down before bending in until near the end dropping down once more for a short bit and curving to a circle, giving it a short nub on the bottom. A white Divina Crucis with a golden outline. The only other part of the emblem was that extending from the sides of it was a pair of white wings with a golden outline. It was one of the least busy emblems I've seen for a House in Eostia.

Naturally as the people saw us there was a lot of attention brought to us. This was, no offense meant, a backwater hovel in the grand scheme of things. That their Baroness had arrived was likely the biggest event this place had in the decade. That the High Queen had stopped in to must have been the biggest event of the century for them. Hells, it took several moments for someone to note who Celestine was and by then we were inside the Glad Rest and moved to an empty table. Even the bard stopped his music as the only chatter came from our group. Celestine bit back a sigh but I could see a hint of it seep from herself.

We needed something to get things rolling once more so I dug a silver out of my coin and looked to the bard. A sharp whistle a nod and I tossed the coin to him. "Good bard, something upbeat, if you please!" I called out with a smile and nod. Celestine gave her own smile and nod to the bard and the man gulped, set string to strong on his violin and started a good, jaunty tune.

"I am still annoyed at how high up I can be placed." Celestine said with a sigh... As I gave her a soft elbow to the side of her arm, making her jump lightly.

"Maybe, but if we can get people to understand you're fine seeing things from the same ground they stand on maybe they'll come around." I said as she smiled to me a bit wider. "For now Cele, let's get some food in us, shall we?"

"Indeed. It's time to rest for the journey that comes in the morrow." She said, clasping her hands together.

[-]

Two Hours Later
Glad Creek Watchtower

"I don't believe it! The bleedin' High Queen! Here!" One man let off as he chuckled as the moon and stars rose upwards. "Never thought'd I'd see that lovely royal arse in our little dirt patch!"

"Here, here! It feels sinful to say it, but she is a fucking sexy piece of arse! I mean those tits!" The second let off, both chuckling. Little could be said of the men in the grand scheme of things. Two hard working men from a small town, although well respected by those within it. Both wore worn, gray and stained gambeson that needed to be replaced two seasons ago and bore a bow, a quiver of arrows and a militia club each; although one of the clubs had a nail into one side to hold cracked wood together with a cord wrapped about it, tied off and covered in some form of risen made from tree sap to keep it functional. Glad Creek was small enough to not draw the eyes of many bandits but the odd one still poked at them... Not to mention the slavers.

A point of pride was their little village didn't need slaves anyway. A man could work his own fields and give fair compensation to his workers; slave labor was an insult. The first man adjusted his helmet; a cracked pot that was no longer good for cooking stew but repurposed to protect a skull. His companion, by contrast, had a proper, bronze helmet... Although missing it's visor and with several dents in one side. The second man pulled out a water flask and took a swig from it. "How lucky we are to see her, eh?"

"Huh? Wait..." The first said, smelling something in the air. "...You brought whiskey with you?"

"Pfft... What'll happen here? This is the biggest thing that'll ever happen, seeing the High Queen." The second man thing. "No one's gonna attack us!"

"Oh come on, what'll the mayor say?" The first man let off with a huff.

"Maybe he'll ask for a drink?" The drinking man laughed out, patting his friend with his flask holding hand... And knocking it from his own hand to the floor. "Shit!" He said as he bent over to pick it up...

Ping!

Only for both men to look in shock as an arrow hit the bronze helmet on it's top, sticking out of it as they looked out; seeing the barest hint of an archer in the darkness. "Shit!" Both men let off, diving to the floor as more arrows sailed over heard, scrambling into the small room at the top of the tower as the first man drew his club as he clambered to his feet and started banging it onto the old, bronze bell inside of it.

"Attack! We're under attack!" He screamed out, the bell ring out as he tried to call out as loud as possible. "Militia men, to arms, to arms!"

"Incoming!" The second man let off as his friend looked to where the attack was coming from.

The last thing either men would see was a fireball the size of a boar sailing into the top of their tower. The explosion would shatter the top of it, sending wooden splinters sailing outwards with flame and heat, one side of the middle blasting out as fires licked at it.

"And of course, things start off poorly." Godzislaw let off as he marched along the road. He made sure his cavalry moved on foot; the hills would hinder them too much and reduce their full mobility. Behind him eighty infantry men in steel plate marched, mixed between mostly human and a few ogres. Minding their flanks was a combination of archers and scouts in leather plate, thirty in number. Schwartz marched beside him but their other nine spell casters stayed behind the footmen.

"Will our quarry not run?" Schwartz let off, giving him a look as the titanic man chuckled.

One hundred and twenty men against a dozen Dawn Templars, a dozen Mungale Regulars and whatever posed as a 'militia' in this town. "Nyet. They will want to protect the village, these silly, little bleeding hearts. Bah!" Godzislaw let off with a chuckle, drawing a massive, two handed sword from his back and resting it on his shoulder. It was a mythril blade that was eight inches wide and three and three quarters feet long with a trio of quality spell stones set into the guard, each one black.

"Even now, when they are surely alerted to our coming?" The woman asked as the man chuckled.

"Chto eto znachit? It's more interesting this way anyway! Forwards! We kill the High Wench, kill the lordling and his friends... And we'll burn this town off the map while we're at it! Ha! We can earn some more money from the slaves we capture! Slava Blutige Greifen!"

"Glory to the Bloody Griffins!" His men bellowed out into the night.

[-]

Normally I'd change out of my armor in order to sleep; it wasn't the most comfortable thing to have a nap in but my worries convinced me to keep it on when I went to bed, only leaving my skull cap off. A ringing bell followed by an explosion brought my paranoia to the fore and woke me rather quickly as I grabbed and donned the skull cap, slapped my rapier to my side and started to move down to the ground floor as other doors opened and my group and combined escort filtered out of the rooms. No doubt a few Dawn Templars were on alert to start with. Once I was outside Miria and Cress was flanking me as Aeris dropped from above us. Makoto and Riri were outside before I got there along with Celestine. "What's going on, who's attacking?" I let off as Aeris dropped down further to speak.

"A small army." She reported with a frown. "Heavily equipped but baring no visible emblems. Mostly human and some ogres. Maybe a hundred or so in total."

"Mercenaries, more then like." Commander Keen let off as Stark joined us; spell book and wand in hand as she frowned harder.

"Mercenaries!?" Stark let off, huffing. "What reason would they have to attack a village!? If anything they should be defending the borders; this makes no sense!"

"They're not." I replied as Stark and Celestine looked to me. "They're after someone in our group. Surely."

"For what reason would they do that?" Stark huffed as she clearly prepared to cast a summons.

"Money, sadly." Celestine said as she sighed. "And perhaps they don't fully know exactly who is gathered here." Sadly she was right; if they knew Stark or Celestine was here they would be less likely to attack.

"Miria, Cress, take our archers and find good cover to fire from. Aeris, go with them and do what you can to guard them from spells." I barked out, Miria nodding as she and Cress started to take what few archers were in our group and Aeris moved to watch over the, casting an illusion over herself. I could also see men from the village with bows move to join them as other militia men with clubs moved to join us.

"Beg pardon, M'Lord!" One of the men sad; an older one with... serviceable cloth gambeson said as he addressed me; I guess he saw me calling orders and imagined I was in charge. "We ain't so fit to fight a real force... What do we do?" He asked as I looked to Commander Keen.

"Thoughts?" I asked as I ran through my own. Between the Dawn Templars, the Mungale Regulars and the Caul Regulars we had some three dozen men. Throw in myself, Celestine, Stark and my group that was another eight. I counted some two dozen militia men, but their quality of equipment was poor and their training likely wasn't much better.

"We have to stand and fight, that much is clear. But these foes are too well equipped for the villagers to handle head on." She said with a huff. "Having them fight is suicide for them." The men gulped and while harsh, I agreed. I turned back to look at the man.

"Any man with a bow and arrow or some other ranged weapon can stay and support." I told them firmly. "Everyone else; evacuate the village. Hide out in the forest, a cave or whatever. Keep the women, the children and anyone else unable to fight safe.

"Aye, aye M'lord! You heard 'em! Move your rears!" The man that had addressed me let off. Several of his men moved towards the village as others ducked into the inn; each carrying an archery set. No doubt they planned to use the building as cover and for the extra height.

"Templars! Be the shield against our foe!" Keen bellowed out, drawing her claymore from her back. "Soldiers of Caul, Soldiers of Mungale; watch our flanks! Ensure we are not blindsided! Lords Noxdecus and Angelus; magical offensive support from you both! Celestine, my High Queen, your defensive magics!"

"You'll have it." Celestine said as clapped her hands together and... ummmm...

A orichalcum staff just... appeared as if from thin air. So... ummm... You know those bags of holding? And you know how some mana armors can have them built in? This isn't that... She just used her own magic to do that... To just summon an object from subspace. To someone who doesn't know magic that sounds impressive but no... That's an understatement. The level of skill and knowledge to make a bag of holding is a high bar. To make your own, personal subspace pocket was much, much trickier. To pull something from it on a whim is high, high, high level stuff. To put this in perspective it's something only archmages aka the highest rank in magic, can really pull off it's a rare skill only expected of the Archmage Prime, aka the leader of the Spellcasters Guild, aka the best mage in freaking Eostia.

Needless to say having a life lived in centuries likely helped with that.

Anyway, regarding the she staff she now held itself; the golden hue of the orichalcum was noticeable and formed a smooth, long shaft with a rounded cap at the bottom. The top end of the shaft had silver rings attached, spaced out a half an inch before leading to a pair of mythril, silver hued angels, of all things, hugging a blue baseball sized spell stone between them with their wings extending back and up. It was quite the weapon and I had to stop admiring it to draw my own.

It wasn't much longer until the opposing force came into view as the Dawn Templar formed a battle line. The inn was close enough to the edge of the town that the marching force approaching that we could see them as they fully crested the hill of the town. Scanning the various opposing forces showed off men with levels between the mid-teens to low twenties. At equal numbers that would be worrying; with superior numbers it was frightening. Coupled with the plate and splint armors they looked formidable to say the least; the worst armor I could see was a handful of guys in chain mail and the six ogres I could see were equally as armored as their human counterparts. And then there was the huge dude in the front, clearly the leader in mythril armor. Short of orichalcum or mana armor there was nothing better for plate mail; save maybe dragon scale. I of course used Observe on him.

(-)

Name: Godzislaw the Juggernaut
Title: Leader of the Bloody Griffins
Class: Hero
Level: 43
Alignment: Hostile
Reputation: 21
Status: Healthy, Bloodthirsty, Giddy

Known Traits
[?]
[Full Metal Plate] Regardless of your class you can wear Plate Mail Armor.
[Monkey's Grip] You can wield a single, two handed weapon in one hand with no penalty. You may not wield a second two handed weapon along side it, but may wield a single handed weapon, shield or item in your off hand.

[?]
[Heart of Thunder] You have an affinity with the lightning element. +15% damage and effect to all lightning spells, Combat Arts and abilities

Once a well regarded General of the Dominious Empire he was known for his brutality and ruthlessness. His favorite intimation tactic would be to line up all prisoners of war and have as many women as possible raped before them, preferably their families, before having them executed. After failing to conquer even part of Camafran by the end of the Burning River War and at Celestine's demand he was imprisoned in Camafran for his own execution before being freed by one of his loyal lieutenants.

(-)

Oh, he sounds like a character. More over he was a much higher level then anyone here save Celestine... This is gonna be rough... I looked to the woman next to him; a mage with a tall staff.

(-)

Name: Schwartz the Nightraven
Title: Lady of the Griffins
Class: Sorceress
Level: 36
Alignment: Hostile
Reputation: 19
Status: Healthy, Haughty, Eager

Romance Rating: 75
Corruption Rating: 55

Known Traits
[?]

[Deep Pools] You have a large and deep Mana Pool. +8% to Mnc
[Understudy of Lina Inverse] Your magical damage is improved thanks to your skill at destruction. +3 to Magical Damage

[Staff Fighter] You are able to fight in melee with staves and staff like weapons. +5% to Str, End, Dex and Agi when using such a weapon

Hailing from a disgraced family from Dominious nobility she, nonetheless, was allowed to learn magic and excelled enough that most of her commanders would overlook her House's stains. She would serve under Godzislaw for most of her career and during the Burning River War; defecting to rescue him from his captivity and smuggling him into Eostia.

(-)

Also a high level, but not so scary. I could take her.

...

Oh god... I'm looking at someone over ten levels higher then me and thinking 'I can take her'. What happened to me? Regardless of that, Stark was almost equal to her level, rough and dirty, if you squinted, and she was the lesser of the two leaders. I could see Celestine frown as she saw who it was.

"General Godzislaw Krovokryl." She let off with a soft huff, speaking loud enough for her voice to carry to him over what was about to be a battlefield. "I was under the impression that you died in Camafran."

"Ahhh, Celestine, you yebanaya pizda!" The giant man let off with a faux-friendly chuckle and a thick, Russian sounding accent... When he wasn't speaking Russian, anyway. "I assure you, the reports of my death were greatly exaggerated. But yes, I was set up to die... because of you."

"I would more place the blame of that upon your own crimes and brutality against the people of Camafran, Godzislaw." Celestine replied with a sigh. "You're responsible for killing thousand of civilian men and women in that Kingdom. And that is merely only where your crimes begins."

"Ehh, you can't make drachona without cracking the eggs you know?" He said with a smirk and a shrug as Celestine sighed.

"Lay down your arms and surrender yourself. I assure you that you will be treated fairly." She told him sternly as the giant of a man laughed at her, even leaning back as he did so.

"Ty chto-nibud' ponimayesh' zdes', zhirnogrudaya korova el'fa?" He let off in Russian, aka Northern Dominious, or whatever that land was before it was conquered. I was fairly sure it was conquered, anyway; this is Dominious we're talking about after all. "Do you see how many men I have here with me, malen'kaya koroleva? And how few you have? You think I am the one who should surrender? Kakaya tupaya suka!" I had no idea what his Russian translated as, but I doubted it was at all polite. He grinned, leaning in and holding his hand out, thumb and index finger close to gether but not touching. "You are silly little pacifist. Weak and feeble; hiding behind her people... You are no threat to me; all you have are words! Vozdukha! Air!"

"There need not be unneeded bloodshed." Celestine said calmly, as if withholding the urge to sigh. "No matter what the outcome your men will come to harm. Why spend their lives so recklessly?"

"Den'gi! Money, dorogaya pizda! What other reason do we need? Much platinum is on the line for us!" He let off, laughing out loudly as Stark gasped as something came to her.

"I know you!" Stark let off, stepping closer. "You were supposed to be at Second Wing! You'd betray you're employer? Am I not paying you enough as it is?"

"Der'mo..." He groaned out with a sigh as he shrugged. "I knew we'd have to kill everyone but to kill our boss too... Bah! Vot tak vot! Needless to say, you will all need to die. Then your heir can pay us too!" He let off with a long chuckle.

"Perhaps, meine Allgemeine, we can stop speaking of what we will do..." Schwartz let off with a sigh as she spoke with a silky, German tone to her voice. "And can we simply get on with it? Lass uns keine Zeit verschwenden."

"Da,.da, da..." He said with a chuckle as his men behind him took combat stances... There was a lot of axes and spears in their numbers... I admitted to myself I was scared but now was a bad time to let that show...

My view quickly zoomed in on Godzislaw as he grinned and laughed at us as the boss music picked up, slapping the visor of his helm down over his face. He pointed his huge blade to us as his voice boomed out. "Tvoya smert' budet sladkoy. Tvoi stradaniya budut slashche!"

_Leader of the Bloody Griffins_
Godzislaw the Juggernaut

The view would then shift over to Schwartz who would spin her staff before her once, behind her back once before taking a combat stance with it. "Das recht auf rache ist unser! Und ich nehme es gerne!" She let off as she glared to us coldly.

_Lady of the Griffins_
Schwartz the Nightraven

The view would pan back slightly to bring the pair and their forces into full view, each man stomping his right foot and leading with it as they spoke as one. "We are the Bloody Griffins! On war's wings we come! In our wake we leave blood! And with us we take glory!" The cried out as one, single unit.

_Brutal Mercenary Army_
The Bloody Griffins

The moment my view returned to normal a number of things happened.

Stark first used her spell book to create a tall, golden Valkyrie in red, mana armor, long hair and carrying a sword and shield. I inverted my weapon to better use it as a spell focus and bring the stone in it's pommel to bear with Makoto and Riri moving between myself and the line of Dawn Templars to guard me as Celestine lifted her staff up before slamming it's butt firmly to the ground as a wave of golden mana cascaded out over us and...

For a long moment the Templars, Regulars, myself and all my allies present glowed a soft gold for a long moment before it faded into each of us and it took me a moment to realize that she casted a boosting spell on all of us to make us all stronger; given the situation we needed all the boosts we needed. During this Schwartz was drawing her own mana to call, bringing flames to the top of her staff before swinging a massive fireball at us only for Celestine to hold out a hand and cast a golden hued shield before our lines; the blast rocked into it but showed no sign of cracking Celestine's defense but sent up smoke and debris as a war cry was heard; The Bloody Griffins charged headlong at us as Celestine let her shield drop and the smoke vanished; we would accomplish little hiding in it but was clear she was planning to have one at the ready... However while Godzislaw could be seen barking orders I couldn't see Schwartz. That worried me but I had no time to think on it...

I started casting Scatter Bolt and sending them over the Dawn Templars heads and down into the opposing ranks with Stark doing much the same. My spells quickly started impacting into the opposing lines; punching into some armor, denting others and in a couple of cases deflecting off. An opposing Scatter Bolt was fired from the back of the Griffin's ranks but before they could impact Celestine cast a shield and blocked it fully. Once more the lack of Schwartz acting as support or attack was worrying me as I casted once more, focusing my magical senses. I could pin point where the opposing mages to a degree were and directed my blasts in that direction as the lines of melee fighters started to clash... And ours held. Celestine's buffs enhanced the Dawn Templars enough that as shields slammed into shields they held and managed to push back against a wave of steel. Myself and Stark took our next shot at the front lines of the foes, aiming for their heads. There was an immediate effect; helms came flying off and some people fell backwards or died as the Dawn Templars started to swing for the fences.

It was then, finally, my magical senses picked up something... behind us. I whirled about and brought up my magical shield in the glove and blocked a lance of arcane magic that slammed into it.

"Well, well... You sensed me." Schwartz let off as Makoto and Riri were already responding, moving to flank me and facing her. "I did not expect that from you, little lordling." How did she get behind us so... Wait...

"Shadow Step?" I said, questioningly as the woman tilted her head back, sneering at me over her nose as I spun my weapon to a standard grip to ready the blade for use.

"So you know of it? Beeindruckend." She let off. Despite what some people thought it wasn't a teleportation spell; rather it let someone walk into a sort of 'phased' state where they can move unseen and can pass through anything that's non-living and non-enchanted; even the ground if they're not careful and any magical spell or weapon impacting you will end the spell on top of whatever damage it would do. It's not something you can do on a whim though; it's costly in mana and difficult to use. Translation; she was no joke, but I already knew that. "But still, you're not going to survive me..."

"Woman; you are not the worst thing I've had to face in this month." That (dis)honor still went to Blood Caller, after all. As she started to move I snapped a Magic Missile at her before using Piercing Thrust to rush her. I had seen her Traits with Observe so I wasn't surprised when she blocked both with her staff as Makoto and Riri moved to flank me. She gave a smirk as I thrust my left, mana channeling hand forwards. She was already leaning her head away but kept her eyes on my palm... As a flash-based Illusion blinding her for a moment as I pushed her back and slashed my blade at her face... Only for her to pop a shield around her, deflecting it as she hopped back, shaking her head out. A loud 'clang' sounded as Makoto used a Combat Art with her sword, slamming the blade to her shield and not even cracking it.

I used Tailwind on myself to boost my speed on top of Celestine's own buff and used Shocking Weapon on my sword before using Piercing Thrust once more; coupled with Adrenaline Rush with made a small crack in her shield which seemed to surprise her, given the raised eyebrow of hers, but she maintained a smug look... Before I cracked it further as I followed it with a Dragon's Fist, slamming my left knuckles into it with enough force to widen those cracks following that with Power Punch with the Unicorn's Horn's D-Guard to further widen those cracks and as she started to finally looked concerned I swung my rapier coupled with Arc of Steel to give the blade the striking power it wouldn't have otherwise to break the shield apart. She let off a 'tsh' and hopped back... Only to use her staff to block the Sonic Wave I let off as I slashed upwards before she had to engage Riri coming in from her right and attacking low at the same time Makoto weaved in from her left, attacking high. I'd used seven Combat Arts back to back in combination with each other and I don't think she realized I could brute force my way past her shield. To be frank, if it wasn't for Celestine's boost I likely couldn't.

She would deflect both attacks with her staff before she just pushed Makoto back and shot a Magic Missile at Riri who side hopped the attack as I came in once more, thrusting my weapon at her and adding Rapid Strike to my list of used Combat Arts; the quick, repeated thrusting making her spin her staff to deflect them and back away. The battle was going... Well, it was going...

A bird like whistle singing a tune could be heard from one of the building's roof's and a glance showed me what I suspected; a whistling Cress, backed by Miria and a few other archers; local and our own, firing arrows into the mass melee. Under normal circumstances the effect of arrows would be limited against splint or plate armor but aside from Celestine's boost, which I bet they also enjoyed, Cress' abilities would increase their attack power further giving them enough punch to get into the metal. Indeed; two opposing mages were redirecting to attack them with fireballs; fireballs that were deflected by Aeris' wind magic as she shimmered into view; her illusion failing as she started casting additional spells to assist. Miria promptly nailed a mage with a fireball in his hand in the eye; sending him to the ground and blowing his spell near his buddy and taking out an opposing archer.

Stark's summons, meanwhile, dove in from above, harassing the foe's lines as well. I couldn't tell how much damage it was doing but by the looks of it it was knocking people around. Of course the Bloody Grffin's lines started to wrap around ours; numbers being what they are, but the Mungale and Caul regulars stepped up and took them head on. There was one issue however...

They were wrapping around too much and a few were spilling into our fight with Schwartz; five men moving to flank us, weapons drawn. As Riri launched in from her flank and landed a blocked kick on Schwartz's staff that she spun into an inseguri style roundhouse kick to her head I broke off and moved to intercept the men, spell at the ready. They screamed a battle cry and charged as I launched an Arctic Orb to their feet; three of the five slipping to their backs hard and one stumbling but staying on their feet as I used Dual Cast to first swap my weapon from Shocking Weapon to Blazing Weapon.

Rapier now alight I waited and moved to sidestep in a way that both men were in line with me as well as dodge an axe swing before casting a point blank Gale Burst prepared with the previous Dual Cast; the effect knocking the first man back into his buddy before I used Piercing Strike. Thanks to the Blazing Weapon on my rapier I was able to punch into the the first man's armor, through his middle and out of him and into the second man's armor. Sadly their splint mail meant while I wounded the second I didn't kill him as I stepped back, withdrawing my sword from him and throwing a Fireball at the three men trying to scramble to their feet and get off the icy patch. It directly connected with one man (He had to be dead) and sent the other two sprawling off it. I didn't know their condition; one moving weakly and one not moving at all. Either way I had to adjust my focus to the wounded man still up and howling as he rushed me; mace at the ready. I brought up my left arm and used the mana shield to block his strike before using Power Punch to slam the D-Guard of my weapon to his face and making him stumble back enough to aim the point of my weapon to him coupled with Adrenaline Rush to ram it into his heart. He fell down to his back, unmoving as I tried to get my bearings on the current status of the battle-

"Look out!" Riri's voice came. I turned and brought up my shield as it was rocked hard by Schwartz; green tinged wind magic was around the end of her staff as she swung for the fences, aiming for my head. I blocked twice more with my shield, backing up and using Power Punch with my D-Guard only to be deflected by her weapon. Another three Griffins had got around our guard (And I noted two Regulars and a Templar were down) and Makoto and Riri were tangling with them now as Schwartz pressed her attack; the butt of her staff smacking my shield aside before swinging the head of it at my head. I leaned back to dodge but she still connected; my turned head making sure my skull cap took the worst of it as I was knocked down, landing on my back. I felt my skull cap come off and blood on my forehead as I looked up to her as she inverted her weapon to jab it down to me... Only to be forced to back off and dodge as a Scatter Bolt sailed by her with the bolts twisting to nail other Griffin's entering our combat area.

A hand grabbed me by the neck as I sat up, helping me up and I noted it was Stark. "Thanks." I got out as I used Minor Heal on my head; Blessed Recover would have been overkill.

"As your host letting you die would reflect poorly on me..." I noticed that her Valkyrie was still harassing the opposing forces; given she called it from her book it must have been pre-programmed with enough intelligence to mind itself, at least to a point. "We cannot afford this woman in our back rows."

"Agreed." I let off as Schwartz huffed at us. "Let's bring her down."

[-]

Godzislaw huffed as he looked over to Celestine; he knew what she was doing. Empowering her forces was something he heard of her doing and it was annoying. He had, perhaps, a three to one if not a four to one advantage in numbers and yet they were holding their lines; he didn't know she could bolster her forces so much to the point they were over double their initial strength. Quantity, yes, had a quality of it's own but there needed to be at least some parity in quality still. Oh well... He still had another card of his to play.

The first thing he did was deal with the summoned beast; his men couldn't handle it on their own it seemed so it was past time to step in. As it dove down for another attack and his men started to scatter from it's attach vector he dashed it and grinned, swinging his weapon in a straight, vertical arc and cutting it in two, the body vanishing into mana. Grinning he chuckled and moved back to where he was...

After all, it was now time for his secret weapon... He pulled a horn from his side and blew into it; a loud, deep bellow coming from it... Followed by a loud howl as he heard the foot steps approach. His men knew what it meant and backed up from the opposing lines, dragging allies away. Finally he got a good look at the opposing forces after the initial clash.

Celestine was taking the break in combat to heal up her people, ignoring him for a moment as she knelt by one who was down. The Dawn Templars were panting for air and the Regulars were doing the same with a few falling to one knee until they could recover. He noted that three Regulars and two Templars stayed down. Every loss of theirs would hurt them more then him, even if this would sting. Still it was clear that she had defended her own forces well. His men moved aside, creating a path as he looked to his foes. The Dawn Templars were the first to see it and despite their discipline they looked frightened as a Black Troll marched onto the battlefield the village had become... And then the Regulars matched them as they saw it. Celestine was the last to see it, standing up fully and looked to the new arrival of the fiend with narrowed eyes, yet no fear.

Standing at twenty four feet tall the skin of the troll was a dark gray, nearly black. Various bits of breastplates and other parts of armor was modified with holes and leather cord to make a makeshift scale armor for the massive Aberrant and in one hand was a twelve foot long, foot and a half wide slab of steel forged from various swords, melted and fused together before then being sharpened and given a point.

He had found the Black Troll alone as a child six years ago and slowly and lovingly raised it; the hammer that would help him pound out his vengeance. "Ty chertova pizda! Are you ready for what's coming for you!?" Godzislaw let off, laughing as the massive Aberrant roared out as it moved to stand next to him. "This is Maus! He is like a son to me... And he will do much to ensure his otets is happy! And he will bring you to me... After tearing your people limb from limb!"

"Templars! Stand aside!" Celestine let off firmly as she stepped forward. The female warriors looked unsure but stepped aside as Celestine stepped forwards; no hint of fear from her as she tapped the butt of her staff to the ground softly as her eyes narrowed. "I do not enjoy combat. I do not enjoy war. And I do not enjoy needless death and destruction. Nor do I enjoy fighting. Because of this then I will allow you to lay down your arms and surrender."

"... ...Kakaya tupaya suka... Ty deystvitel'no tupaya suka! Tolstaya sis'kastaya shlyushka! Kak takaya glupaya devka, kak ty, stala Verkhovnoy Korolevoy!?" Godzislaw yelled out as Celestine sighed.

"Wisdom, the ability to make the Council of Lords actually work together and maintain their faith." She said as Godzislaw blinked. "Yes, I understand the language of Severnyyveter. And I do hope you do not kiss your mother with that mouth."

"Ha, ha, haaaaa..." Godzislaw let off with a huff. "Maus... If you please." He said as the Black Troll chuckled and lumbered forth. It looked down at her as snarled as it reached out with it's left hand. "Tupaya suka... Ty byla slishkom slaba, chtoby chto-to sdelat'..." He let off...

Only to see the High Queen's body glowing with golden mana from head to toe. "Kakiye?" He let off in confusion as Celestine lifted the palm of her right hand, aiming it to Maus' face... And unleashed a tight, foot wide pillar of light that slammed into the black troll's head which vanished in a blink and sending ash back out and coating him and his armor. Maus would stay on it's feet for a moment after the attack ended before slumping off to the side and dropping it's weapon with a loud and violent 'clang' on the ground as Celestine walked forwards, still glowing bright with mana.

A mage rarely let their mana become so visible like this; it brought it to the fore and made it quicker to cast spells but also burned through mana stores much quicker. This wasn't done for any tactical reason, nor to make her spells quicker to cast... She was showing off... She was making a statement of what she could do. One of his men recovered from his shock first and charged the High Queen; four others moving to follow him, screaming it rage... Only for the Goddess Reborn to wave her hand and firing off five bolts of holy magic that drilled through each of them in their center of mass dropping them instantly.

The Griffins bristled and backed up as Godzislaw gawked; taking a step back himself. "Blya... Ty... Chto... Eto..." He stammered out. "But... you are a pacifist! You don't kill!"

"Oh... Oh, how I wish I could be... How I wish I could be..." Celestine said, her tone clear... A hint of sorrow and regret in her voice as she shut her eyes. "I would spare all of you, in spite of your crimes tonight and previous if I could. I would rather speak with you, teach you your errors and uplift you to become better people... But I have spent eight hundred years as a ruler and seven of those centuries leading a country at war. I know that people like you who exist; those who revel in violence and bloodshed... Those who would impart their will upon others by force... For a man who speaks at least two verbal languages you only, truly speak one; violence." She said her eyes opened...

And stern, hardened green eyes glared back at him; her voice changing sterner in tone but never rising in volume. "And I have met many a man like you, to whom words are as air. And as such I have been forced to become, sadly, quite fluent in that language. And I have been forced through seven hundred years of warfare to become more fluent in violence then someone like you."

"Ty... Ty... Ty vysokomernaya SUKA!" Godzislaw bellowed out; banging his left fist to his plated chest. "I am Gozislaw the Juggernaut, Bitch! I am the most feared general Dominious ever made! I am the strongest man alive! You think you can best me! Ya ub'yu tebya i tvoikh shlyukh, tupaya korova! You are all dead!" He howled out, charging and taking his blade in both hands. He was ready for any blast of missile from her only for none to come. Celestine simply stood there, unmoving and waiting for him, eyes locked on his own. Snarling at the High Queen he spun his blade twice and then, with all of his might and increasing his power with a Combat Art, swung it at her neck; howling in rage and dominance...

Only for Celestine to lift a golden mana coated index finger up that glowed with more concentrated magic and blocked his blade with her magic on one, single finger; not even flinching as he struck. "Gah!" He let off, gritting his teeth as he tried to press in harder. "Nyet..." He let off, grunting with effort as her eyes bore into his own.

"Da poznayete vy mir i pokoy, kogda Boginya obnimayet vas." Celestine said softly to him as his eyes widened. She spoke his language with perfect fluency... And the meaning was quite clear...

May you know peace and rest as the Goddess embraces you.

Celestine lifted her staff up and tapped it's butt to the ground as a burst came from her and making him stumble back from her before she aimed two of her fingers to his forehead; a single bolt firing from it and punching through a mythril helm as the giant man dropped his weapon and fell to the ground dead from the spell that drilled into him without bursting out the other side. As his body came to a rest she would use one hand to draw in the air before her a curved line from shoulder to shoulder with a dip down, from her navel to her forehead before making a fist and pull slightly; a gesture used in Larentian prayers.

"Holy shit.." One of them Griffins let off. All of a sudden, in spite of the numbers they still had it was they who backed up further.

"Run!" One man let off, the armored forces turning and fleeing... before starting to slam into a curved, golden shield. Turning they could see Celestine's staff glowing brightly as she walked to them; this time flanked by her Templars and stopping some distance from them.

"I am Celestine Lucross. High Queen of Eostia. Ruler of the Seven Shields Alliance. Goddess Reborn. I hereby demand your surrender. Otherwise I will be required to fight more and none here wish for that."

It took seconds for weapons to start to hit the ground.

[-]

I knew Stark's summons went down when she started to summon another but was cut off as Schwartz fired a Magic Missile at her. She wasn't able to dodge in time and had to block it with her spell book; she was unharmed but her book was ruined with a crater left in it. A horn and a roar came from the front lines but I couldn't deal with that now.

I slammed my burning weapon into another mercenary and turned him to block the attack of another one. That one would die as an enhanced and empowered arrow slammed into his back; from who I couldn't see. I shoved the guy on my blade off of it before moving to charge Schwartz; throwing a Thunder Lance at her. She deflected it with her staff before blocking Makoto's blade with a shield and shoving her back which made me pause and hop back; punching through that a second time would be difficult. Then I had an idea as I looked to Baroness Angelus. "Stark, big hit!"

"Very well!" She let off as she prepared a spell. I also prepared, starting with Dual Cast as I moved to position. Stark took her time to charge up as Makoto and Riri tried to break into Schwartz shield but failed to as a massive, golden shield covered the area of the village. I had a thought of where it came from but once more I didn't have time to focus on it.

"Makoto, Riri, get clear!" I called out to my bodyguard and maid as they jumped back and out of range before Stark unleashed a very powerful holy spell at her in a stream. Schwartz grit her teeth but smirked... And then I unleashed my own spell; it looked like a fireball but it wasn't the normal flame it was dark purple. I used Dark Flare as Stark's spell poured on and it slammed into the barrier... And you could hear the angry hiss of mana as white and lilac colored steam rose upwards from the shield as Schwartz's smirk vanished as the shield was eaten away at rapidly before it gave out and she had no time to dodge, only able to block with her staff and turn her head to the side as the attack before Stark's spell hit her. To her credit she wasn't knocked off her feet, but when the spell ended the side of her face looked like someone took a belt sander to it for a few seconds and her free hand was covering an eye...

And she never noticed I followed up with a Dual Casted Arcane Lance until that spell struck her dead center of her chest. She let off a hurk and fell to the ground, her staff clattering to the floor as she clutched her wound. Despite the gaping wound in the middle of her torso she pushed herself up to a sitting position with a hand extended out to cast another spell only for one of Riri's long knives to be thrown into her hand as Makoto stepped in and swung her blade, decapitating her. The fight was finally over on our end and I turned back to main fight, jogging over to see...

The Griffins surrendering en mass and dropping their weapons as well as seeing the corpses of Godzislaw and a fucking Black Troll. Yeah... I missed a lot. Commander Dux was overlooking everything as Celestine tended to the wounded with her healing magic. I could see the militia, Cress, my sister and Aeris moving to join us. "You lot; help us secure these prisoners!" She called out as she turned to a voxlux in her hand with someone's face projected over it. "Yes, as quickly as possible. We have between sixty and seventy prisoners. We have a base in Caul with Eostian Regulars; they should be the closest-"

I tuned her out as I moved to stand next to a kneeling Celestine who worked on a Dawn Templar and winced. One of the Dawn Templars was dead; from what I couldn't tell. Add two Caul Regulars and one Mungale to that list. "Are you okay?" I asked her as she sighed, finishing healing a Templar who stood, if on shaky feet.

"For a given definition, yes..." She said with sadness as she sighed. Her eyes seemed ready to leak tears but they stayed held in. "Godzislaw's mage?"

"It was difficult but we brought her down. She'll never hurt anyone again." I said sucking in a breath. Come morning I'd need to report our death into my father; I did not look forwards to that. Not that he'd be disappointed but because it won't be easy. "I want answers."

"Indeed..." Celestine said as she stood up. "As do I... Once we've tended to the wounded we will set to asking questions..."

[Defeated List]

Bloody Griffin Mercenaries=28000XP
Schwartz the Nightraven=3000XP x 1.25 Kill Bonus=3750XP
+20% Dark Horse of Eostia Bonus
Gain 38100XP Total

Level Up!

You are now Level 23!

+1 to Dex, Acc & Mnc!
+1 to End!
+1 to Rap!
+2 RSP & SSP!
+5 UTP!

Level Up!

You are now Level 24!

+1 to Dex, Acc, Mnc, Agi & Mag!
+1 to End!
+1 to Rap!
+2 RSP & SSP!
+5 UTP!

Achievement Unlocked: Mercenary Masher
Defeated a notable mercenary unit

Achievement Unlocked: Double Dipper
Level up twice from the same battle

Achievement Unlocked: Struggling Together
Defeat a foe with a higher level alongside a political opponent

Huh, two levels up in one... For what I just went through, well, I think I earned it...

[-]

Thankfully the local militia only lost four men; two from their guard tower and two more acting as archers who took arrows going the other way. Others were wounded, but not dead; thankfully. We stripped the Bloody Griffins of their weapons and armor as they 'donated' them to the local militia who was very happy for the upgrade in equipment. The one exception was Godizslaw's armor; Celestine offered it to me and I accepted; I couldn't wear it but that wasn't my intent; I would send it back to Gregory, the Captain of Mungale Manor's Guard for him to wear. I imagine he'd love the slightly used armor; once the helm was repaired. The locals, in addition, were more then happy to donate enough rope and cord to bind the men and a remaining three ogres as they were led to an mostly empty storehouse, put under guard and would be left there until relief came. Sadly that meant we would be stuck there until said relief came with a lot or tired, battered and in some cases wounded troops.

Once we found someone who looked like he had some command authority in the Bloody Griffins Commander Keen interrogated him and we started to get a picture; a cloaked figure came to them a few days ago and informed them of our approach to Caul; although they assumed we were going to the capital and not Lodoss. From there they deployed their scouts over a wide net until they spotted our convoy (Unluckily for us the Capital of Pluma Alba and Lodoss were in the same direction) and moved into place. They had been hired to assassinate us... Specifically myself, Miria, Aeris and Riri with Godzislaw taking the chance to go after Celestine as well for a bit of revenge. That seemed confusing to me before Keen mentioned it was likely done because one of us was the target but someone wanted to obfuscate who the target was... And given the fact that they nabbed a hundred platinum up front and was expected two hundred more on a finished job that meant the guy hiring them was rich enough to throw away that much cash; even if it harmed their coffers it wasn't so much as to be unable to recover from it. I had a guess on who it was... And who they were after...

"It's Mandeville." I said with a huff. "I can't prove it, clearly, but if it wasn't him I'd be surprised." We were gathered in the inn's cellar; we needed someplace private to have a meeting and the local mayor offered it to our use and the inn's owner didn't argue. I sat on a crate with my skull lap laid beside me. It did it's job in protecting me, mostly, but it was torn to shit. If that bitch hit any harder with her spell bolstered weapon those sharp winds would have turned it to ribbons... And likely shave my hair and the skin under it off of me.

Maybe I should throw some more stats into my luck... Clearly I could use more of it...

"It makes sense." Celestine said, Keen standing next to her. Next to me on one side was Miria and Cress with Aeris hovering nearby and Stark sitting away from us. "You have a feud with him now; it's unsurprising he wants you dead."

"He wasn't after me; although that would be a bonus for him no doubt." I said as Celestine blinked to me. "Look; he's not my only enemy here. Blitzhaus would like to see me in a grave after the Council and Alundra must know I roughed up her son Victor a bit, not to mention other Traditionalists wouldn't cry to see me dead; no offense Stark."

"Some taken." She curly replied as I kept going.

"But rather then target me they were to target me, Miria, Aeris and Riri." I said holding up a finger. "While I'm the most obvious target, I'm not the only one even though I'm the only one someone might spend that coin on... I mean, I can see Miria being a target as several members of the Council were not impressed when she was adopted to the House but most wouldn't spend the coin on her, Aeris has some connections with elven nobility and royalty of one of the member of the United Elven Kingdoms but most of her foes would be other elves of that kingdom who would be reluctant to hire human mercs... And then there's Riri. Who would pay up to three hundred platinum to kill a maid of overall little importance to the bulk of anyone who could pay that much?"

"As I recall..." Stark let off, adjusting her glasses. "Riri was meant to be a slave to Mandeville before she was... removed from his reach. And recently he was forced to withdraw claims onto her. But that still doesn't explain why he would ask for her death, nor pay so much."

"The payment is clear; we have a sizable guard with us." I pointed out. "As for why that's simple. Mandeville doesn't consider himself a slaver or a slave trader; he considers himself a connoisseur of slaves. In his mind losing Riri wasn't like losing a slave, it was like losing a piece of fine art, a piece of history or even a family heirloom. To him a slave is more then an investment; they are clay to be molded and shaped. And I imagine he is a firm believe or the 'destiny until death' philosophy on slavery."

"Ah yes, 'A Master owns the slave body and soul. He is in command of their destiny from the moment to claiming until the moment of death'." Stark rattled off as I nodded.

"He never got to own her, body or soul." I said, lifting a finger up. "And he was never in command of her destiny... And so that leaves him at least the 'right' in his mind to choose her moment of death." I said with a huff. "If I had anything with substance I'd nail his ancient ass to the wall with it."

"I'll make inquiries once I'm back in Pluma Alba." Stark said, adjusting her glasses for a moment. "Mayhaps I can find something you can nail him with; doubtful as it is. Regardless; the Bloody Griffins attacked myself, my guests and my holdings. Rest assured, by the time I'm done with them they will regret ever crossing House Angelus." Indeed; chances were what Godzislaw brought with him wasn't all of his forces; I imagine they would be kicked out of Caul if they were lucky.

"Without proof I cannot act beyond inquiries either." Celestine admitted with a sigh. "Still; while we cannot say if more problems will come or not we can be alert... And while we lost good people we dealt their employer, Mandeville or not, a blow. This begs the question then; will they try again?"

[-]

Hill Outside of Glad Creek
Midnight

With the cover of shadows fully hiding him Brendon Lightstep clambered out of the tree he hid himself in until he was on the ground and walked back towards his camp. He made sure to stay well away from the fighting; two miles out. He used the spell stone that replaced his eye to observe the battle and winced as Celestine slew the troll (A black troll even!) with ease before treating one of the most dangerous mercenaries like a featherweight that challenged a titan... And dealt with him with a matching ease.

He heard of rumors of Celestine when she needed to fight but he never thought she actually did. That said in the end none of the targets died, let alone the former slave. He was tempted to move into position and snipe with his crossbow but he resisted the urge; giving himself away would make the situation worse and he wasn't confident he could escape a hunting party of Dawn Templars. It was time to cut his losses for the night.

The morrow would arrive soon and in the days to come they could plan.

[-]

Come the morning we were led to the supply wagons of the Bloody Griffins by one of their number. We helped ourselves to their food, gave their booze to the village and raided their coffers; some one hundred and twenty platinum, some five thousand gold and change (Or over another fifty platinum), a bit over one thousand silver (Over one platinum) and two thousand odd copper (Or twenty more gold). In short they had a lot of coin. Then again a group like the Griffins also had a lot of overhead so they needed it.

After some talk we took all of the platinum for ourselves; with Celestine insisting I take it all. I did, but I gave Stark ten as both a thank you and a means for the Griffins to repay her for the trouble, ten to Cress, Miria, Aeris and Makoto, twenty to Riri as the target and then kept the fifty left over for myself; it would help recover from buying the ingot if nothing else. As for the gold, silver and copper we allowed the Templars and Regulars to have a share of the gold leaving some four thousand and change afterwards and the left was given to a very happy Glad Creek populous with instructions to use it to grow their town into something better.

Yeah, Glad Creek was now living up to it's name.

On a less then happy note my father was upset once he heard the story of what happened and more so when he learned who had died on our end. The guard's name was Jaxson Greenwood... And as it turned out he was once a child sold off by his father in Delconna and escaped before he was claimed who was then hidden in a wagon by Gregory who smuggled him to Mungale and got him set up in an orphanage. He grew up and joined the Mungale Regulars just to serve under the man... Got himself a wife, one child and another on the way... When Gregory heard he kept a stoic face but I could tell he was hit hard by it. I asked him to pass my condolences on to his family...

We would remain on station for another two days, trading guard shifts (I took shifts as well to help spread the burden further) until a force of one hundred and fifty Eostian Regulars arrived to take over with enough wagons to escort the prisoners to someplace to hold them properly. Before we left the mayor offered Celestine a necklace made of various beads and smoothed stones; it wasn't worth much but she took it gracefully and thanked the people for their hospitality and cooperation.

We finally left Glad Creek in the morning for the west of Caul and arrived in Lodoss City by early evening. It was a fairly standard city, double walls, castle in the city and so on... White washed outer walls, the town bore buildings with red, white of gold paint... Really, much was glossed over in my eyes given the events. Both Riri and Makoto made a point to stick closer to me as I worked on installing the booster in the local Adventurer's Guild.

[(⸜∕ ) Place Booster in Caul]

Once we settled into Castle Lodoss it was Commander Keen, of all people, who spoke up. "We should go to Bria."

At this point we were gathered in a sitting room; we being myself (Working on my new project), Celestine, Miria and Keen herself. "Why's that?" I asked, scroll out as I made notes; I didn't look up at her as I was in a bit of a zone.

"Given the attack in Glad Creek we can use some rest and where better then Bria?" She suggested as I hummed. "It's not like we haven't the money to spend now."

Bria was, for lack of a better term, a 'resort state' as they had a large lake that was man made and built a resort there; most of the Coucil of Lords would stop there after (And some before) a meeting of the Council as Bria was right next door to the High Kingdom of Ken giving them heavy, high end business twice a year and sometimes more. In addition Bria was the place to go for lords, rich merchants or other upper crust types to bring clients or business partners to for talks and wine and dine them. Hell, the Rycall Republic, Kingdom of Camafran and people from the other side of the Great Sererus Lake would stop in there for those reasons.

To get there we'd need to go southeast through Erogus. After that we would have to go through Whitewell and then some combination of U'ra and Halous, Armon, U'ra and Halous or just Armon to reach South Point for the next booster. It was a detour, but not a large one. I thought about it before Celestine spoke up.

"I've not had the chance to visit their resorts. Or, rather I had and... too many of the other lords were present." Translation; 'I would be so pestered by the various lords I'd never be able to relax'. Given what happened at Prim's party I didn't doubt that... "By now, however, most of those lords will have returned to their own holdings."

"Hmm..." I let off, looking up finally as I thought. I'd be lying if I said I didn't want to visit and some R and R sounded good... Of course we'd push our schedule back...

...

Fuck it; the schedule so fucked anyway it's offering quickies in a dirty bathroom.

"We can spare a couple of days, I'm sure." Celestine gave a wide, warm smile as Miria let off a hoot.

"Whew yeah! I hear they raise sea trout locally to serve fresh!" She let off as I sighed. Yeah, figures the catgirl would get excited for the fish...

Well whatever... It'll be a good time I bet...

[ - Author's Note - ]

Whew... Another long one done...

So, to explain myself a bit; in canon Celestine was an actual total pacifist who, despite being able, refused to strike Vu, errr, 'Varro' down. Yeah... This version is clearly different; she wants to be a pacifist and would rather settle everything without violence... But knows that she needs to fight. She hates it but will do it, even if reluctantly. This was somewhat hinted at if you recall the plaque for Joanna of the White Cloth from the last chapter.

This was also a means to show off how powerful Celestine can be and give an idea of what the, for lack of a better term, 'endgame power level' will be.

Also, I used a lot of Google Translated Russian and German in this chapter... I do hope it holds up, but if a speaker of those languages read this let me know how well they work...

So, next chapter will be the semi-required beach episode and will be a more fun oriented one. And then... Well...

Elves...

As always leave a review, what you liked and didn't like and so on. Poll is still ongoing at strawpoll(dotcom)(slash)polls(slash)poy9RVMBpnJ and I also have the link up on Twitter now (Yay!) with eostian as my handle. I'll be sure to post when I add chapters and polls there as well. Not used to Twitter so go easy on me there, please...

Until next time!

~Eostian Scribe