Legacy of the Plains: Act 1, Chapter 4

Germaine frowned down at the black iron key in her palm, wondering if she was in way over her head.

Baroness Zahradnik had approached her several times over the past few months, trying to enlist her service in various ways. Every attempt was, to put it bluntly, suspicious: her proposals were too open, too comfy sounding, and too nice. The lack of any apparent disadvantage to Germaine made it seem like a sweet trap with some mechanism that existed beyond her ability to perceive.

Standing on the grounds of the future 'Faculty of Alchemy', something that had entirely slipped her mind when considering the whole affair came crashing over her. For all of her open, straightforward behaviour, Ludmila Zahradnik was a noble. It wasn't as if Germaine had literally forgotten this fact, but what it meant hadn't been applied to her new liege.

People stepped lightly around nobles in Re-Estize for good reason. They legally owned the land, held authority over its people, and a noble oversaw the enforcement of justice within their territory. This hadn't changed one bit in the Sorcerous Kingdom – if anything, it was even more strongly upheld with the powerful Undead forces now at their disposal.

Every word and action that a noble took was an exercise of economic, political and military power. Humble little merchants like Germaine LeNez were a simple matter to crush underfoot. Sure, people could fight and maybe they could do some damage, but ultimate victory would inevitably belong to the noble in charge.

In Re-Estize, if one managed to hold out against a minor noble, then their liege would be obliged to step in. Continued defiance would eventually bring the problem all the way up to the King, who was similarly obliged to defend his vassals. At that point, life was over, and one could expect all manner of assassins, Adventurers and Workers coming for their outlawed heads. Having someone like Azuth Aindra popping into one's home and disintegrating them for a tidy sum was something that no one could do anything to stop.

Germaine could only imagine that getting on the bad side of the Sorcerous Kingdom's aristocracy was orders of magnitude worse. Each and every one of them had the power to destroy entire countries at their immediate disposal. Each noble in the Sorcerous Kingdom was also only one or two steps away from the Crown when it came to passing problems up the hierarchy.

"Are you sure you do not want to select your residence first?" Lady Zahradnik asked.

The tread of the Death Knights unloading Germaine's equipment sounded from behind them. Squeezing the key in her hand, she sent her apprentices away to find their rooms.

"That can wait, my lady," she replied. "May I take a look at the manufactory, first?"

"If you wish," Lady Zahradnik replied. "The requirements that you delivered to me were for a much smaller building, but hopefully the architects have constructed something that still meets your standards."

"My standards," Germaine muttered. "Right. Forgive me if I offend, my lady, but your ambitions appear to exceed my standards. Is there any need to defer to me at all?"

"I am not an Alchemist," Lady Zahradnik told her. "I am not even a magic caster. I am…just a border noble. I apologize if it feels like all of the burdens are being placed upon your shoulders. If it is any comfort, there are several other arcane artisans in the demesne. There are probably many things that I do not understand when it comes to your trade, so it might do some good to interact with them. So long as you do not breach any regulations, of course."

"Of course…"

The Baroness had somehow gotten quite a number of mages to move in. For all of her claims that she was a simple border noble, she clearly had connections to the right people. E-Rantel had not suffered any further dips in its own population of arcane artisans since the months after the annexation, so it was a mystery as to where they came from. Re-Estize's nobles had little in the way of strong, international ties, never mind with magic casters of any sort.

The ratio of professional magic casters in Warden's Vale – roughly two per cent of the total population – was already absurdly high. By comparison, the rest of the region had ratios of anywhere between 1 in 5000 to 10,000 for magic casters of the second tier, which was the bare minimum required to make a living as a magic artisan. The way Baroness Zahradnik went on about it, however, one was lent to the impression that she could barely scrape up a single novice.

Germaine led the Death Knights carrying her equipment to the front door of the main building. The structure had no windows, though there were what appeared to be vents sticking out of the walls. The entire complex was located on the southernmost end of the city, presumably so that the fumes from their craft didn't waft over the entire length of the island. Inside the first door was a vestibule with a small desk along one side.

"A lobby?" Germaine murmured.

"Yes," Lady Zahradnik said. "There will be an Elder Lich at that desk. A small team of Undead servitors will also be working as the building's security. Unauthorized persons will not be allowed past this point, be they friends or family or even visiting dignitaries."

"What about the warehouse?"

"The warehouse has its own means of access, but cargo transfers will be directed from the inside. The only beings that are allowed to go in and out of the building from there are the security forces and Soul Eaters with their wagons."

These measures were daunting enough to disqualify mundane attempts at theft or espionage. Germaine wondered what the Baroness had in mind for more capable intruders.

A long hallway stretched out to the right of the second door. Two magical lights shone down upon the polished floor: one where they entered from the lobby, and another over the door to the next nearest room.

"Lighting supplies are limited for the time being," the Baroness said apologetically. "For the time being, I only have enough for the first workshop."

Only the first workshop.

Germaine cast her gaze into the distance, counting the doors lined up all along the hallway. There were at least two dozen of them.

"Everything you do here seems exorbitantly expensive, my lady," Germaine noted. "Is there something behind your, uh…bold projects? This island you're building everything on is enough to fit four whole E-Rantels end to end – walls and all – and still have room to spare. Most people would be more conservative with their resources."

"That would be true if we were closer to the city," Lady Zahradnik nodded, "but, as I mentioned previously, things are…flipped on their head here. In the city, the price for materials is high due to the costs associated with labour, transportation, storage and administrative expenses. Space is at a premium and there are citizens aplenty competing for work. Out here, I have all the basic resources and space I could wish for. In contrast, I have just over a thousand people for a demesne that's almost as large as Corelyn County."

"Out of curiosity, how much did this entire complex cost you?"

"In terms of gold, about a third as much as purchasing your shop in E-Rantel and fixing it up."

Germaine shook her head. Ridiculous.

"If it's so cheap here, why not use that to attract migrants?"

"Your own resistance to moving here over the past few months should be explanation enough," Lady Zahradnik's voice turned wry. "People decide where to migrate based on where they believe the greatest opportunities lie. A city presents far greater and far more opportunities compared to a sparsely populated frontier territory, so I will not be able to compete on that front until Warden's Vale has a small city of its own. Farmers and woodsmen might consider coming here of their own accord, but not the vocations that you tend to find in towns and cities."

"And that's why you're forcing the development of this industry in your demesne," Germaine waved a hand loosely around them.

"Industries that my territory holds inherent or legal advantages over others in, yes. There are certain key industries that offer far greater potential for development, but other places in the Sorcerous Kingdom are more suited for them. I would not be surprised if one or more of the other nobles has already taken steps to secure them. In the meantime, the falling cost of living makes it easy for them to hold onto their populations while they transition to these new industries."

The discussion had drifted far beyond her area of expertise as a merchant. Figuring out things like broad economic development and the management of large populations was the realm of aristocrats and rulers. Not that they succeeded all the time, but Germaine decided to leave well enough alone.

She tentatively reached out to open the first workshop door. Within was a space roughly five times the size of her workshop, with a ceiling over three storeys high. It gave off a cavernous feeling without any furnishings, and probably still would after setting everything up.

"This is, uh…big," Germaine tried to keep herself from gawking as she walked around. "Every door in that hall leads to a room like this?"

"Yes."

"That's a lot of cosmetics," she smirked. "As long as you can find the materials to process."

"I have read that alchemy has many products that assist in daily life," Lady Zahradnik said. "This is at least true, in part."

"It sure is," Germaine said, "but every city has their own alchemists. There's also the fact that every alchemist tends to keep the formulas they've developed to themselves…"

"That will not be an obstacle here," Lady Zahradnik told her. "The proprietary rights to all research and development in Warden's Vale belong to House Zahradnik, as is everything constructed in the territory. If our most profitable export ends up being cosmetics, I do not mind that at all. I will not allow other avenues of research to remain unexplored, however."

Returning to the entrance of the room, Germaine shifted uncomfortably. Seeing the Baroness' investment into the facility and having such lofty expectations made her hesitant to broach the topic that was most important to her.

"Is there somewhere specific you need this cargo placed?"

She looked up from her thoughts, realizing that the Death Knights carrying her equipment were still standing in the hallway.

"Just along the wall here is fine," Germaine said. "Just be sure to set it down carefully. I'll get the brats together to start setting things up after we've ordered the furnishings we need…that was the plan, wasn't it?"

"It still is," Lady Zahradnik nodded, "but you should see about getting moved in first. There was also something else I would like you to get started on…"

They left the Death Knights to their work. Lady Zahradnik led Germaine out of the building and across the complex's plaza to a large dormitory that stretched across one side of the grounds. The door was propped open, and she found her bags just inside. They went up two flights of stairs to the top floor, where Germaine saw a long hallway that looked suspiciously like the one in the manufactory.

"I feel like there's gonna be a workshop behind every one of these doors," she said.

"A more unique appearance might be called for in the future," Lady Zahradnik's voice took on a bit of a sheepish tone, "but the buildings coming up right now all have the same style. Even the home I am currently staying in looks much the same as the ones to either side. Feel free to pick any room you wish – this entire floor is reserved for unmarried master artisans."

"But they all look the same, right?"

"…right."

"What do you mean by 'unmarried'?"

"We cannot exactly house families in a dormitory, so proper homes outside of the citadel will be provided to accommodate them."

Germaine picked out a room at random, dropping her bags off beside the simple bed that lay within. In addition to the bed, there was a desk, a chest of drawers, and an armoire. All were fashioned from wood in the same, ubiquitous style. The buildings, the furniture – she suspected that many things might look quite samey in Warden's Vale. It spoke of a place with too few artisans and too much work to do. At least everything was nice and spacious.

"You said something about a citadel?" She asked after coming back out.

"Walls will come up at some point in the future," Lady Zahradnik explained. "Once our immediate priorities are addressed and suitable staff are gathered. The northern third of this island will serve as the citadel of the city, with facilities like this one occupying the outer areas. The inner citadel will be up on the hill behind this complex."

"Won't the administration have problems with another city overshadowing the capital?"

"By the time this harbour grows to become a city, E-Rantel will be far larger. There will be well over a million people in the duchy in a few generations, Miss LeNez."

"R-really?"

As far as she knew, the duchy had a bit over half a million when it was a part of Re-Estize. About half of that number fled over the border following the Battle of Katze Plains.

"It is a conservative estimate," Lady Zahradnik said. "The Sorcerous Kingdom can produce enough food to feed millions even with its current allocation of land to agriculture. There are also regions that our nation has extended their control over with uncounted Demihumans who may migrate as well."

"What about all the Undead?" Germaine asked, "Do they count?"

Baroness Zahradnik blinked at her question. Did she say something wrong?

"I am not sure how they are counted," the Baroness replied in a quiet voice.

Lady Zahradnik's hand moved to fiddle with a silver band around her right middle finger. After a moment, she produced a key from one of her far-too-convenient magic bags and gestured for Germaine to follow. Near the front of the hallway, she opened a door and stood aside.

"When you have the time," Lady Zahradnik said. "I would like for you to analyze the contents within."

Germaine leaned over to look into the room. Rather than bedroom furnishings, it contained rows of shelves. Upon those shelves were numerous wooden crates.

"What are they?"

"Magic items."

"All of them?"

"Yes."

"I don't recall the Sorcerous Kingdom destroying a small country recently."

"It was not a small country," Lady Zahradnik said. "Just a large army."

Germaine frowned at her reply.

"…when did this happen?"

"Around the beginning of last month."

"You…you mean those rumours are true? About the Demihuman army."

"It was a Demihuman army, yes. Not a single remnant survived, as far as I know. There is no need to worry for your safety here."

Germaine placed a hand on one of the shelves to steady herself, pretending to scan the contents of the room. The rumour was so ludicrous that she had dismissed it out of hand. Something about millions of Demihumans swarming into the upper reaches of the Katze River, only to be crushed by the Royal Army. House Zahradnik's territory being where it was, one would naturally conclude that it was Baroness Zahradnik that conducted the defence as the noble responsible for that area of the border.

She understood that followers of the Six Great Gods were fanatical about Human supremacy, but she didn't realize that they hated Demihumans that much. On any other day, the Baroness looked like a young and earnest noblewoman, if not a bit cold. Certainly nothing like a merciless killer with the blood of millions on her hands.

"These things aren't cursed from being exposed to so much bloodshed, are they?" Germaine asked.

"They do not look cursed to me," Lady Zahradnik answered.

"You can tell?"

"Erm…what I meant was that nothing strange has happened in the weeks that they have been in storage. The group cataloguing salvage from the conflict used appraisal magic to identify these."

Germaine pulled out an item from the box. It was a leather cord with cerulean beads and black feathers. A necklace…or a bracelet? Considering it was from a Demihuman, it might have gone elsewhere.

"If they've already been identified," Germaine said, "what am I analyzing them for?"

"The Elder Liches are not crafters, so I would like you to investigate that end of things. Like what you were doing with those cooling boxes before they blew up in your face."

Despite the painful reminder, a thrill of excitement washed through her.

"Eh? You'll really let me do that?"

"This is what you want to do, is it not?"

"It is…but even if these are minor trinkets, they're still worth a fortune altogether. They'll be worthless once I'm through with them."

"I do not mind," Lady Zahradnik said without a moment's hesitation. "They have been set aside for that very purpose. If you can learn how they are made and gain knowledge beneficial to the magic item industry here, it will have been well worth the cost. Make sure you carefully document your studies."

Germaine went from crate to crate, glancing over their contents. They were almost all minor magical items, but they represented a rare opportunity to make a thorough study of Demihuman crafting techniques. Many previously unknown spells and enchantment methods potentially awaited discovery.

"I'll get to work right away on this, my lady," she wondered which item she should start with.

"You cannot," Lady Zahradnik told her.

"I-I can't?"

"You still need to head to the commercial district and order the furnishings required for your workshop."

"Uh, right. I knew that."