Chapter 6.17 - Pacification Failure

The first snows of winter had fallen. And like the snow so winter, the nobility of Ston had fallen. The guilds, the nobles, and the magistrate were taken outside and executed. General Marcus had declared Ston a rogue state, and ceased all trade with them, however since the kingdom of Thul had long become self-sufficient, those supplies were instead rerouted to Ston for distribution by the Consulate. Ston would weather the winter, and in the spring, when the Grand General came to retake the city from its 'starved' civilians, they would be ready. As the citizenry of Ston now controlled the city and actively sought assistance from Haven, Haven actively provided it. 'Everything but troops' was the promise to Ston, and it would be honored.

Elsewhere in the world, a greater initiative had failed, the Sarween Technocracy's hunt for Kira Marquest. In a rather unprecedented action, she walked into the Patent Rights office of Morat, paid the outstanding debt on her grandfather's invention, claiming familial right, and then left. By the time the Archmagus families had discovered what had happened, the bureaucratic delay had given her ample time to board a coach and leave the city. In fact by the time they realized what had happened, and they no longer held the rights to the pacification field generators, Morat had brought its full police force to bear in the hunt. Sadly, she had already left the country by then.

Their anxiety was because of the secondary effect of Kira regaining sole rights for use of the Pacification Field Generators. The time to find her before the usage rights contract expired was coming close. By divine decree, only those with contract permission could utilize the inventions of another. Without being able to coerce or kill Kira Marquest, the pacification field generators would begin to fail, as their usage contracts were expiring, and no service contract renewal was approved.

It was then, at the heart of winter, that the fields faltered. Ale had spread word among the poor. Those unable to fight were welcome to take refuge in the basement of her shop. As the pacification fields fell, roughly two thousand people lined up at her door. Announcements for citizenry to return to their homes and 'weather the siege' was on repeat through the strange magical devices that made verbal announcements on every street corner. The poor had no reason to obey.

They were the poor, disenfranchised crafters and inventors forced to labor, those that were a little too specialized to have been replaced by homunculi. Their time in the city was drawing down as their use was dwindling. To the leaders of Morat, the poorest laborers were 'expendable', and within another generation they would be replaced by artificial workers.

Inside Ale's small shop, down a flight of stairs, a temporary portal had been activated. It was unknown where it went, but not a single person faltered, and readily used it to escape the impending doom. With what little belongings they had in hand, they moved through the gate. Ale smiled as she took items from her shop and handed them to the people who had no possessions. Nothing in her shop was cheap, and these few items were enough to give these people a bit of net wealth, and with it some dignity. So children were handed books, adults were given tools and mead. By the time the last of the refugees made it through the portal, the shop was as empty as it was when Ale first set up shop. She picked up her transfer chest and tugged it behind her on a dolly. Then with no more refugees, she locked the door to her shop, placed her sign to closed, and moved through the portal, closing it behind her.

The poor understood struggle and work. It was these people that Haven offered a chance at redemption. The nobles only understood greed and power. Ale smirked as she wondered how well these values would save them.

***

As the pacification field began to fall, it was as if decades of nature's wrath began to bubble to the surface. Within a few days thousands of monsters laid siege to the city led by a half dozen titans. The mostly autonomous defense of Morat led by their mostly ceremonial army was quickly decimated, their technological might unable to cope with the wrath of decades of Nature. Haven's Overwatch team, reviewing the situation, cancelled their mission. The city would fall, and it was too dangerous to stay airborne, as several dragons entered the fray.

Morat would fall, and everyone in its borders that could not use teleportation magic would fall with it.

As Ale took the refugees out, they surrounded her, "What do we do? Where do we go? If Morat fell, the other two cities are not far behind."

Ale smiled, "I am not sure this nation will survive the winter, but you will. We offer you the chance to make your own home as a vassal country to our empire. You will receive all the aid and protection it needs and when it can stand on its own two feet, Haven will welcome you with open arms into its federation.

***

Back in Haven, The council of representatives was getting live updates on the destruction of Morat.

Before Overwatch was required to exfiltrate, a Lancer Relay, two Lancers communicating images, sent a live feed. Serin watched, and spoke to his representatives.

"We could not have saved this city if we tried. And while we did light the match of destruction, it was only a matter of time. This happened because the country put progress above everything, and chose to live outside of Harmony. They fought the earth around them, and because of that the Wild fought back. They might have survived moving forward, but they subverted their own rules, choosing to hoard wealth and disregard merit and progress for the sake of their own greed. All we had to do is give the rights to the pacification field generators back to their rightful owner. She was glad to let the city fall, and as a kindness, and with the help of Shurik's prototype gate generator, the lower class escaped.

The representatives were shocked at the damage. Ephraim the Demis representative stood. "Are we going to be adding these people to our city?"

Serin shook his head. "No. As with the incoming emancipated slaves from the GWA, these refugees will be set up with a self-sustaining region and all the power to develop their own nation, just outside our borders. As we currently have a few outposts in the following regions, we will give them the ability to expand, but not hamper our own future growth. Instead we will intermingle out borders, as this nation will be a vassal to ours. Haven knows what most reject. Diversity brings us strength."

He then rolled out the planned development that had been in the works by the Dhamphir. Because of the ability to use gates and airships, Haven was not limited to only growing by annexing bordering regions. It was able to annex anywhere. Any region fully controlled by a minimum population of their citizens became theirs by right. And the Society of Explorers led by Master Tyber had been hard at work, scouting for resources, valuable locations, and key terrain.

Serin continued. "These plans show Haven's future. We have picked locations for future regions for governance. And although we have yet to fill out our current regions, that is the task I leave to you. Speaking of which, Master Cellic will be offering his matchmaking services free of charge at the next spring Rut. So for those who might have charisma as a dump stat, Master Cellic can find who you are meant to be with, guaranteed."

Master Cellic piped in, "Not guaranteed, but in my years I have never had a complaint. Although I probably would not have matched Allister and Rachel."

A few laughs were heard to break the mood. Serin was not sure that the Dhamphir's joke would not make it back to Rachel.

Serin saw a strange message populate on his kingdom management page

[The City of Morat has fallen to Ruin by the Wild.]

[Converting…]

***