Valkyrie's Shadow

Chapter 6

10th Day, Upper Wind Month, 1 CE, 0200 Hours

Ludmila alighted on a merlon of Seagate’s modest wall, right in front of a worried-looking sentry peering out into the night with an arrow nocked to his bow.

Are they all normally so low-levelled, or were all of the higher-level sentries killed by the Beastmen?

Certain aspects of the Beastman invaders’ behaviour felt akin to the Demihuman tribes that she was familiar with. One of her expectations coming into the Draconic Kingdom was that strong Humans would be targeted because competition and conflict between Demihuman tribes and their neighbours usually involved contests between Champions to display their dominance. That being said, there appeared to be more to their methods.

What she had observed and heard of thus far spoke of a certain amount of sophistication. Or was it simply a coincidence born of tribal conventions? She supposed that tribal conventions developed over time for good reason, so that was also a possibility.

Ultimately, the result was more dire than she expected. The Draconic Kingdom was in big trouble because what the Beastmen were effectively doing was creating a ‘cutoff’ through their culling methods, leaving the surviving Human population with a dismal average Level.

The oblivious sentry standing before her was a prime example of the problem. Beyond her sensing that the sentry was about the strength of an entry-level Copper-rank Adventurer, he didn’t even seem to have the correct Job Classes for sentry duty.

Someone hiding in a wooded area to evade detection was certainly possible even when the one they were hiding from was much stronger and didn’t have specialised detection abilities. Hiding in plain sight, however, was extraordinarily difficult and required a colossal difference between concealment and detection ability to pull off. Even with the concealment-enhancing equipment bestowed upon her by the Sorcerer King, standing in the open mere centimetres in front of someone would have her detected by all but the weakest of soldiers and those of civilian occupation.

She understood why soldiers and militia might have suffered the most from the ‘culling methods’ of the Beastmen, but it appeared that even civilian occupations like Alchemists and Priests were subjected to the same treatment. If things were as bad as she suspected, the entire Draconic Kingdom had been ‘culled’ to basic functionality. They would not only have to rebuild their country and its industries, but they would have to fill the ‘hole’ left in their population and Class Level demographics.

The oblivious sentry rubbed his eyes and yawned. She frowned down at the man, wondering how people could see right through concealed individuals even if they weren’t capable of foiling their stealth…at least until he leaned forward to stick his head between her knees. Her gauntleted hand came down and grabbed him across the forehead, pushing him back.

“EYARGH!!! D-don’t! Oh, gods, pleeeeeeeeeeeease!”

In hindsight, she should have activated her Silence item first.

Nearby sentries came running as she hopped down onto the walkway of the wall. Several drew their bows while others brandished spearheads in her direction. She let go of the man and reached into her Infinite Haversack.

“By order of Queen Oriculus,” she produced the royal writ that had been provided to her. “Stand down. The siege of Seagate has been broken. I am Baroness Ludmila Zahradnik, Commander of the forces removing the Beastmen from the area.”

Their eyes went from her to the writ in her hand. After several moments, the sentries with drawn bows grew weary and lowered their arms.

“That really a royal writ?” One of them asked.

“Dunno,” said another. “I ain’t seen one before.”

“What does it say?”

“I can’t read shit. Can anyone read?”

Ludmila held in a sigh. She – a foreigner – could read the Draconic Kingdom’s language, while the locals couldn’t. Then again, it was probably to be expected. The sentries were probably drawn from the remaining population of spares in the town. The remaining literate citizens were artisans, clergy or Merchants being kept safe for their skills and magic.

“The seal kinda looks like the sign on the flag,” another man offered.

“I can wait until you locate an official,” Ludmila crossed her arms. “Please, be quick about it, though – I’d like to head back to the capital soon.”

The men exchanged looks again. One of them gestured with his chin to another.

“Go get the Guildmaster,” he said. “We’ll keep an eye on her.”

Rather than keeping an eye on her, it felt like they were getting an eyeful of her. Ludmila put away the royal writ and drew her mantle shut, but the men continued staring. She wanted to admonish them for being derelict in their duties, but it was probably pointless with how poorly-trained they were.

“Why the Guildmaster?” She asked, “Shouldn’t you have sent for the local lord?”

“Count’s dead,” one of the sentries said. “One of the first to go. His Barons that made it to the town went after that. Their families, too.”

At first, Ludmila thought that the Nobles in the capital’s palace quarter were targeted because they lived in the most affluent dwellings, attracting Beastmen with not only food, but wealth. North and South Seagate were being raided rather than overrun and pillaged, however, so it seemed that they were being targeted on purpose in a similar manner to veteran soldiers and capable casters. It was probably because they were seen as ‘Human Lords’ and unfortunately treated as Demihuman Lords would be, but something else was going on that she couldn’t quite put her finger on.

“What’s going on here?” A cranky-sounding voice came up the gatehouse stairs, “I don’t hear any of those damn dogs barking!”

“I told ya, Guildmaster, someone’s come and claimed to be the Queen!”

“Nonsense,” the first voice snorted. “How could our dear Queen be here? She should be safe in the capital.”

A short man in loose-fitting clothes appeared a moment later, breathing heavily as he reached the top of the wall. Ludmila retrieved the royal writ again, holding it out to the man to inspect. His eyes scanned the scroll before he took off his felt hat to reveal a shining scalp.

“W-who?”

“Baroness Ludmila Zahradnik: military commander of the forces of the Sorcerous Kingdom here in the Draconic Kingdom. Her Majesty, Queen Oriculus, has enlisted our aid in dealing with the hostile invasion of her lands.”

“Baroness Zahradnik,” the man lowered his head. “I am Olerono Olorero, master of the Seagate Merchant Guild. On behalf of Seagate and its citizens, I offer my most heartfelt thanks for the rescue of our dear town. We hope you understand that, given our circumstances, our resources are scarce, but you and your men shall be offered what hospitality we can afford.”

Ludmila frowned inwardly at Guildmaster Olorero’s polished response. Two guildmasters speaking on behalf of Seagate. Seagate was effectively two towns, but something about the way they presented themselves rubbed her the wrong way.

“I have some instructions to leave with the town’s leadership before heading back to the capital,” she said. “Please gather any remaining administrative staff, militia officers, guildmasters and temple representatives to the town square.”

Thirty minutes later, she was delivering the same instructions to the citizens as she had delivered to the southern half. Once again, when the local representative for the Temples of the Six made himself known, she felt the bile of the people directed against him.

Was it truly fair for him to be the recipient of so much hatred? He continued to work faithfully in service to the people, but they were seemingly holding him accountable for the Theocracy’s lack of military aid. She wondered whether it was happening all over the country, and the thought followed her as she returned to her forces.

“Welcome back, Lady Zahradnik,” Olga said. “Did everything go okay?”

“About the same as the other side,” Ludmila answered. “What did you two think of the Merchant Guildmaster from the south town?”

“I didn’t like him,” Olga frowned. “He was creepy at first and then he tried to act like the most important person around after that.”

“Wasn’t he the most important person around?” Raul said, “All the other big people got eaten. And we just appeared out of nowhere and beat up all those Beastmen. How else would he act after that?”

Olga looked away with a ‘hmph’. Having varied opinions was a good thing, but they weren’t at the point where they could explore their respective positions – only disagree.

“Raul’s explanation seems rational,” Ludmila said, “but do you think that anything else was going on?”

“The people were really mad at that one Priest, my lady,” Olga replied. “Everyone was just a ball of feelings just standing there until you started sorting their stuff out.”

“They were in big trouble,” Raul nodded. “But they could still be mad at the Priest. What did he even do? He was one of ours, wasn’t he?”

“I don’t know how the Faith of the Six operates in the Draconic Kingdom,” Ludmila said, “but I do know that the Slane Theocracy usually helps them out when the Beastmen come. They didn’t this time and they’re blaming the Priest because the Theocracy is seen as the seat of our faith.”

“That doesn’t make any sense,” Raul frowned.

“People don’t have to ‘make sense’,” Ludmila smirked. “If you want to make sense of people not making sense, you shouldn’t assume that people are rational. All races have a nature unique to them and possess behaviours that stem both from that nature and the sum of their experiences. In this case, you don’t need to know everything about the townsfolk, just what I told you about the Theocracy.”

Olga and Raul got onto their mounts as the Undead finished gathering. Ludmila had her Shadow Demons, as well as sets of Wraiths from each of the Elder Liches, sweep ahead of their return up the north side of the river.

“So they’re blaming the Priest because…” Olga’s brows drew together, “They think the Priest is part of the Theocracy?”

“You’re on the right track,” Ludmila said, “but you have to go deeper than that…or perhaps ‘broader’ would be more correct? Humans tend to associate things with other things. Furthermore, that sense of association can be distilled into symbolism. This is useful for some things and dangerous for others.

“For instance, if Chef Pyrus makes an amazing meal, people associate the meal with him. When they think of his restaurant, they think of the Chef. Everything about its operation – good or bad – is pinned onto him. Most people don’t think past that point. They don’t think about what his staff do to help out, the Farmers and other people that supply good ingredients, the Undead that help with industry and provide security or the people who manage everything to make it possible to even have a restaurant in the harbour.”

“But making dinner is his job, right?” Raul said, “He’s responsible for his work.”

“There are certain things that he’s responsible for,” Ludmila agreed, “but some things are just out of his control. Not everyone cares to think about it when it happens, and not everyone is reasonable if an explanation is given. The more responsibility someone has, the worse this gets because more and more things are associated with them and the more abstract the average person’s grasp of those things becomes.”

“Doesn’t that mean that you get stuck with this sort of thing all the time, my lady?” Olga asked.

“The way the Faith of the Six defines one’s roles in life helps quite a lot with preventing this,” Ludmila answered, “but it does happen frequently for people in positions of leadership. Everyone wants things to go their way or at least remain stable. They want to be able to raise their families safely and see success. A Noble has to deal with all these desires from thousands or even tens of thousands of tenants and figure out how to best see to them, but the situation of a fief isn’t always good.

“As a rough example, if there is a drought, many things happen at once. The harvest ends up being poor and food becomes scarce. This drives up the price of food beyond what people can afford. People get weak and sick and the Temples get overburdened – if there are any, to begin with. Some people might turn to crime to make ends meet. External forces might act against a fief while this goes on. This can be neighbours who are also suffering from the same drought and resorting to raids, or just lawless opportunists preying on the vulnerable.

“If a lord doesn’t provide tax relief, they might be seen as cruel by their tenants. If they do provide tax relief, they still have to deal with all those other things going on. With less money and food on hand, they are less capable of maintaining order and keeping infrastructure in good repair. Then, what the people thought was a good thing becomes a bad thing, but they still blame the Noble because it’s their job to keep everyone safe. Ones that amass wealth to deal with emergencies might be seen as selfish and greedy when emergencies don’t happen. Almost no one lauds them for their prudence when they are prepared to deal with unexpected events.”

“Then you should let people know what’s really going on,” Raul said.

“Well, that requires resources, too,” Ludmila replied. “A Noble could hire more retainers or have Knights. They can put their banners everywhere to remind people that they are the ones in charge. They can use some combination of propaganda and education to make sure that the people are always on the leadership’s side. Highly visible projects work, too…so long as they aren’t seen as foolish or wasteful.”

Now that she was expanding on the subject, Ludmila realised that she had been doing all those things without actively thinking about it. Everything was strangely monumental, starting from the fortified farming villages and their Lichtowers. Lyndon Roscoe had said as much the previous spring, but what was going on hadn’t sunk in.

“Also, certain methods can be employed out of laziness or desperation,” Ludmila said. “Irresponsible people will often seek to shift blame onto others, whether justified or not. Sometimes, the boots that someone puts on are too big for them and it all becomes too much. Their instincts scream at them to run away because they don’t want to be the person taking the blame. The worst are the ones who try to maintain what they see as a favourable position while sacrificing everyone else around them. Some even believe that they are completely justified in doing so.”

“But that’s not you, my lady,” Olga said. “You should build a huuuuge statue so everyone knows how great you are.”

Her apprentice threw out her hands. Ludmila’s lip twitched.

“I don’t think that would be appropriate…statues are expensive, too.”

“I didn’t see any statues of the Queen anywhere on our map of the capital,” Raul said. “Why does everyone like her, anyway? They hate the Priest for the Theocracy not helping them, but no one blames the Queen for not being able to stop the invaders.”

“That’s a good question…”

What was she doing? While they hadn’t been in the Draconic Kingdom for long, it was utterly strange that absolutely no one seemed to resent Queen Oriculus for their situation. In fact, it was the exact opposite: they adored her despite everything that had happened.

“Lady Zahradnik,” Saiko said from her side, “the reconnaissance vanguard has reached the first line of villages.”

“Did they encounter any Beastmen or Human survivors?”

“None,” the Elder Lich replied. “Neither are they able to determine how long ago the most recent activity was.”

They arrived at one of the villages along the road shortly after, where she checked through the emptied dwellings. Not only had the Beastmen taken away the occupants, but metalwork and cloth had been looted as well. Furnishings, books and documents had been left behind, as were stockpiles of firewood. Going by the condition of the village and its surroundings, it had been left undisturbed for weeks.

Ludmila located the home of the village chief and leafed through the settlement’s records. The last entry was over three months old.

“Saiko,” she asked, “what was the frequency of production professions in the Beastman camps? The number of metalworkers, for instance.”

“Rare. At least by what we could identify as vocational facilities. Those resembling smithies were next to nonexistent.”

It was in line with what Chief Venomscale had noted. The Beastmen seemed to possess no significant artifice when it came to metalworking. That they had occasional pieces of high-quality work might be attributed to external sources or spoils from raids of neighbouring countries. Some of it could be reasoned out as the fact that, with their natural weapons, certain types of equipment were unnecessary. There were other things, however, that should have existed.

“Tell headquarters to compile their findings of each camp. Both those that we’ve already taken and the ones we clear in the future. We need to develop a better idea of their industries and economy.”

Beyond their basic needs, they had no idea of the Beastmen’s sense of material value beyond what they stopped to loot. At some point, those valuables had to go somewhere for them to be worth carrying around.

“For that matter,” she added, “have we encountered a Beastman Merchant yet?”

“Not that we have identified,” Saiko said. “Though determining whether stockpiles of goods are tribal inventories or Merchant inventories is next to impossible with the information that we currently have.”

“Maybe the others can make some sense out of everything when they get here. Let’s move on – I’m going to help with reconnaissance.”

Ludmila activated her hairpin and ascended roughly fifty metres over the ground. Given the strength of the Beastman sentries that they had encountered, concealing herself from that height would render her effectively undetectable. She skimmed back and forth ahead of their advance, pondering what they had discovered since their arrival.

Aside from what she considered as the ‘basics’, nothing was as expected. The nature of the Beastman invasion; the behaviour of the Draconic Kingdom’s citizens; how the conflict had played out and the approach that they would have to take to resolve it. She couldn’t even decide whether it was the result of overthinking based on certain assumptions or if the reality of the situation being out of the ordinary was the culprit of the divergence between expectations and reality.

It’s a good thing Clara is in charge of this ‘offensive’…

While Ludmila would have certainly been able to end the Beastman invasion with the forces at her disposal, Clara was prepared to implement solutions for both the invasion and the state of the Draconic Kingdom in the aftermath. The plight of the Draconic Kingdom was common knowledge in the region, yet she was the only one that decisively moved to not just alleviate their woes, but end them permanently.

She had been preparing for it since shortly after the annexation of E-Rantel and people could see the bits and pieces of what she was doing. Yet, at the same time, most had no idea what she was doing right up to the moment that it happened. Clara was lauded as a genius and it was undeniably so, but it was her foresight and endless toil that turned the ‘garden’ that she envisioned into reality. The catastrophe unfolding in the Draconic Kingdom seemed like nothing but a golden opportunity, proving that opportunities were best seized by the prepared.

As dawn approached, she landed at the town opposite the river to the Draconic Kingdom’s capital. It was perhaps one of the least affected by the occupation, if only for the fact that the residents had fled across the river to take refuge in the capital. Their riverboats were moored on the far shore, but the efforts of the Beastmen had sunk them there.

Saiko arrived with Olga and Raul, both of whom had by then fallen sound asleep against the backs of the Death Cavaliers. A warm smile spread over Ludmila’s face at the sight.

“I should have requested Rings of Sustenance for them,” she said. “We’re going to be campaigning for a long while.”

“Should they not have been divided into shifts like Commander Wiluvien and Commander Lluluvien?” Saiko asked.

“It was a thought,” Ludmila replied, “but there are things on the ground that can’t be seen from a war room. Some believe that wars can be waged from a distance, but that same distance removes you from many of its most important aspects. I don’t know what the future of our officer corps holds, but I do know that simply turning everything into ashes and dust is not enough to achieve what His Majesty desires for the Sorcerous Kingdom.”

They returned to the palace as the sun rose over the city walls. Ludmila tucked the children into their beds before heading down to the war room.

“Any new orders for me, Commander Linum?” She asked.

“Uwah!” Lluluvien shuddered, “Please don’t do that ever again, my lady! It feels so wrong.”

Ludmila hid a grin behind her hand. It would probably take a lot of getting used to.

“Well, I’m the one not getting any Commander benefits from you two. You need to rid yourself of those antiquated and erroneous notions – one’s role has nothing to do with one’s rank in the Royal Army. I may be the chief of staff for this operation, but you’re a Commander and I’m a Captain and we operate as such. At this rate, it’s going to affect Olga and Raul’s education. You’re already doing everything else you need to be doing anyway, so you may as well give up and accept it.”

“But it’s so weird, my lady,” Lluluvien replied. “In what strange world does a Maid order their Mistress around?”

“You may want to ask Aemilia about that at some point,” Ludmila smirked. “I’m fairly certain she has absolute control over several aspects of my life. Anyway, how are things progressing in the Deadmarch?”

“They’re, hmm…shuffling along?” Lluluvien answered, “The Zombies aren’t very fast, my lady. They’re covering roughly two kilometres per hour. It’s a good thing that they can march all day.”

“I was hoping to lose a fair number of them by now,” Ludmila eyed the map. “Does that mean we haven’t met with much resistance yet?”

“Some fights have broken out here and there. If our analysis of the reports is correct, they were sentries of what we might consider the Beastman ‘warrior caste’. Those sentries haven’t suffered a single loss yet, but they don’t stick around to fight indefinitely.”

“I wonder if that means their real army is out there and they’ve just left behind civilians to occupy the land.”

“Just going by the numbers and how they’re being deployed,” Lluluvien said, “most of the Beastmen in the northwest are civilians as well. Otherwise, two or three tribe-sized forces would have confronted the main wave of Undead instead of consolidating with the rest of the tribes.”

The Katze force had nearly crossed half of the Deadmarch and the Beastman were amassing ahead of them. It appeared that every tribe northwest of Blighthold was on the move, while those to the south hadn’t budged.

“What have our Wraiths and Bone Vultures found out for us?”

“They can’t tell what’s what, my lady,” Lluluvien said, “but we do have some rough figures. There are about three thousand Lion Beastmen in that blob forming at the front. About seven thousand more are still on the way.”

“And the Human population?”

“The estimate is just over two hundred thousand, including those inside Blighthold.”

Ludmila reached out and took a folder from the table near where Blighthold was marked on the map, flipping through the Draconic Kingdom’s census data. The original population of the territory in question was stated to be three hundred thousand, so it seemed that the Beastmen had been there for five or six months. This was clearly unsustainable, further lending to the impression that not everything was as it seemed on the invaders’ end.

“What about Blighthold’s supply situation?”

“We sent Wraiths through the warehouses and nearly all of them are empty. The city is harbouring about three times its normal population at the moment.”

“But I thought we determined that there was no need for them to do so,” Ludmila frowned.

“That assessment still stands, my lady.” Lluluvien said, “The way that the Beastmen are ‘managing’ things makes it so that people can work in the countryside, but…well, they’re probably just scared, my lady. A city has walls and there is safety in numbers – or at least it’s less likely that you’re the next meal when there are so many other targets around.”

“Human irrationality knows no bounds,” Saiko said. “Abandoning productive tasks has only resulted in supply shortages.”

I suppose we should move the commercial schedule up a bit…

Due to the unexpected developments for the Draconic Kingdom, the plans that Clara had come up with had to be dismantled and hastily pieced back together into something serviceable. At the point that Ludmila had left Corelyn Harbour, there were two ‘schedules’ for their operation in the Draconic Kingdom.

The first was the ‘military schedule’, which involved the campaign to end the Beastman occupation and set up the Sorcerous Kingdom’s security forces. Running in tandem with that was the ‘commercial schedule’, which was the effort to get the Draconic Kingdom on the road to economic recovery as quickly as possible.

Though called ‘schedules’, they weren’t anything so precise. They were more akin to a broad set of objectives, short-term targets and loose contingencies that they would use to guide them as they felt their way forward. The progress of the two schedules hinged on the negotiations conducted between the Sorcerous Kingdom’s delegation and the government of the Draconic Kingdom.

With things as dire as they were, Liane suspected that the Sorcerous Kingdom would be able to get away with nearly anything. Clara, however, wouldn’t allow it because it was a sort of borderline coercion that set unacceptable precedents. The Sorcerous Kingdom could never be seen as miserly or exploitative and their work in the Draconic Kingdom would serve as a case study for their nation’s official diplomatic corps in the future.

“In that case,” Ludmila said, “we should begin negotiations as soon as possible. Continue scouting upriver with summons and Shadow Demons. Start cleaning up the empty Beastman camps outside the walls with the infantry company. The sergeants already know what we’re looking for. We’ll resume operations once I get Lady Corelyn’s party up to date on what’s going on.”

“Yes, my lady.”

Ludmila descended the tower and entered the hallways of the royal palace, heading to the state room that had been set aside for the Sorcerous Kingdom’s delegation. Two members of the palace guard standing at the entrance saluted her as she came to a stop before them.

“Has everything been prepared to receive the Sorcerous Kingdom’s delegation?” She asked.

“Most everything, my lady,” one of the guards answered. “Meals will be limited due to the city’s rationing measures and proper entertainment is yet to be arranged. You have the palace’s most sincere apologies.”

“Our purpose is to negotiate a way for your country to restore itself to order and prosperity,” Ludmila told him. “We already understand that you are in a difficult situation, so attempting to curry our favour with luxuries may deliver the wrong impression, yes?”

“…of course, my lady.”

She went to inspect the interior of the state room, which was roughly the size of one of E-Rantel’s guest manors. Pieces of art were displayed on the walls and mounted on pedestals along the corridors, but she had no sense of their value, artistic or otherwise. She wasn’t even sure what some of them were supposed to be.

The state room’s chambers were divided into a drawing room, hall and office for receiving guests in the front half, while a solar and chambers for household staff occupied the rear half. The solar had two bedrooms with attached wardrobes, an office and a lounge with a balcony that overlooked the western gardens. Beyond was a view of the capital with the river on its course to the sea.

After checking the security of the state room and locating no traps, secret compartments or hidden areas, Ludmila returned to the tower.

“Saiko,” she said. “Contact E-Rantel. We are ready to receive Lady Corelyn’s delegation.”

Within five minutes, the dark portal of a Gate spell appeared in a corner of the war room. Liane poked her head out.

“This really the Draconic Kingdom?” She asked, “The city of Oriculon, seat of House Oriculus on the Oriculon River in the Oriculon Reach?”

“Why else would the rest of us be here?” Ludmila gestured to her general staff.

“Dunno. This is my first time using a Gate.”

“Whose Gate is this?”

“Lady Pestonya’s. We–yow!”

Liane let out a yelp and stumbled out of the portal. She rubbed her rear while Florine and Clara joined her.

“Which one of you did that?!” Liane demanded.

“I wonder,” Florine said. “Your behind was sticking out for everyone to see, so it could have been anyone.”

Their Lady’s Maids appeared behind them, carrying two pieces of luggage each. A moment later, the Gate dissipated.

“Have there been any changes to our plans since I left?” Ludmila asked.

“I feel like that should be our question,” Clara answered. “Our delegation’s task essentially remains unchanged, but the reports we’ve been receiving since your arrival here have been alarming.”

“We probably have to start supplying Blighthold a week early,” Ludmila said.

“But a week early is now,” Liane frowned.

“Wasn’t it supposed to be a special occasion for a certain someone?” Florine said.

“It won’t be much of a special occasion if the city starves before our shipments get to it,” Ludmila said. “The population is already decimated, so we need to preserve what we can.”

“That won’t be a problem,” Clara said. “Has Queen Oriculus prepared her negotiators?”

“I’m not sure,” Ludmila said. “I half suspect that she’ll conduct the negotiations personally. What she’s cobbled together out of her palace staff is stretched thin as it is managing the city.”

“Guess that’s one way to cut through the bureaucracy,” Liane said. “Just negotiate with collapsing governments. When do we start?”

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