So days, Emperor Gustavus wondered why he even bothered to go to bed. The day before had been filled with major ergencies, minor annoyances, and the trivial paperwork of running the Empire. He'd finally left court at 2 am, ate dinner, and put his head on his pillow soti after 3 am. If he'd known that he'd be woken at 6 am when the dozens of ssages marked 'Urgent,Important, and Life-Threatening' arrived, he wouldn't have bothered. It made him wish he'd taken that final, 6th level of The Emperor Never Sleeps. His valet inford him that a global ssage from the System had arrived before the deluge of ssages brought by magical birds and bound elentals. Gus kept ssages turned off to save his sanity.
Reading the announcent over a breakfast of bread, beer, eggs, and oatal he could guess at the content of most of the Urgent ssages. Sothing like this had happened at least once every generation. In prior years, the Empire would dispatch forces to the afflicted area, clear the overflowing dungeons, draft the Tier 2 or 3 peasant farrs into the Legion, and deal with whatever noble had decided to build up his own private army in so out of the way bit of wilderness. Forcing untrained peasants into dungeons to level them up could backfire, often disastrously. This ti it was going to be different, he could feel it. More importantly, he had detailed reports from Inquisitor Diego, General Themis, and Prefect Abraitus who all had the wisdom or instructions to send their reports to him directly and not through a series of loose-lipped underlings.
Each person told a different story. From the perspective of Marcus, the Baron was a hardworking noble who went far above his responsibility to the Empire. To produce the new fortress with its high walls, magical defenses, and improved war machines was a miracle in his mind and those of his troops. And the improved Rowan Keep might be the key to holding on to the Northern part of the Duchy of Grultain. He knew Winter would attack there. They had to. It was an Imperial strongpoint they couldn't leave behind them as they moved South. And right now the fortress and its huge storehouse of mana was one of the lynchpins holding the teleport system together. Without the ability to move troops and supplies through the linked teleport stones, the Legion lost a huge advantage in mobility. Marcus spoke highly of how the Baron and his people worked hand in hand with the Legion to solve any problems. Add to that the increased recruiting numbers from Baron, (up from 0 over the last few decades), and Gus could see why his newest Prefect held the Baron in high regard.
From Themis, he got a good assessnt of the man the Baron had been when he had first arrived. She had said that even then, William was ambitious and driven but sohow not a warmonger. He'd been angry that his superior had involved him in the little pissing match with another corporation. They had worried that the warping influence of Gadobhra would change him, but if anything, his growing ambition made him a better ally. He'd found a way to make himself useful to the Empire, and like many others was taking his pay in gold. Gus liked paying in gold. Gold was simple, political favors ended up being more expensive.
He'd read Diego's letters over and over, mostly for the enjoynt of the old inquisitor's prose and humor. Hearing the story of how Diego's young protege and the Baron were working to make Damien Franklin and a group of Hedge Wizards and Witches into useful allies was intriguing. Also, frightening. It was like bottling a lightning bolt. The rogue Franklin's hand could be seen in the magical defenses and mana distribution system. And more recently, he seed to have foiled Winter's diabolical plan to destroy the teleport system. Few besides himself or the high echelons of the Mage's Guild knew this, and it had been a harsh blow to the esteem of the Mage's Guild to be saved by Damien. Gus laughed just thinking about their faces. Thinking outside the box wasn't sothing the Mage's Guild did well. If criminals and madn had the best ideas, you made friends with criminals and madn. He was happy to leave that project to Diego, his protege, and Baron William. That was a delicate pot of soup that didn't need him dipping a spoon into.
Besides the opinions of his own people, Gus had discussed the Baron with two others whose opinions he trusted. The first was the Gnomish Lawyer who had delighted in bringing a lawsuit and other charges against an Emperor in front of his own court. Gus needed more fun like that. They'd only talked briefly, but Mr. Coppertwist had given him insights into the workings of the Barony of Gadobhra and revealed that the Gnos of Cinderstein planned to invest ti and people into the area. The blessing of the Gnomish banking system was not sothing anyone with a bit of intelligence took lightly. Which frustrated many of the Barons who were seeking Williams's downfall. Each had a pile of rejection slips from the Bank.
The other person was the Butcher from Sedgewick who had given his own bodyguards so competition in the yearly arm wrestling contest. They'd talked for a long ti during his birthday party and he'd provided very good information about the Baron. And willingly. The man had tossed aside his Imperial Aura and then politely answered all of his questions. He still hoped to go sailing with the Butcher soday. Hopefully, his son would grow up quickly and he could retire. Or run away from ho. With a flying ship, he just might get away this ti.
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Putting aside happy thoughts of ditching his bodyguards and sailing to the Smoke, he began opening the ssages. As expected, most were from concerned nobles reminding him of what happened when soone was lax enough to allow their peasants to gain levels. The threat of larger monsters was ingrained in them. But more was the threat to their pocketbooks and castles. They feared what might happen if anyone raised a large, high-tier army. (Especially if it wasn't them or a close relative.)
And they could hardly be convinced that the Baron's people were 'just laborers' when the stories running rampant proved quite the opposite. The Bards were curiously vague about the brave Courier who slew a demon-infested paladin in front of the Inquisition, or the Firewalker who fought against Winter terrorists, survived cannons, and tore down buildings. But they were always associated with the Baron of Gadobhra. Claudia's latest report gave him even more fanciful tales, including the vanquishing of a terrible Cyclone.
That double report from Claudia and Themis had been the most interesting. The Baron had proved to be both resourceful and cunning in using his people to the fullest. Without them, Winter would have been the victor in a lopsided fight and he'd have lost valuable allies. Instead, the southern part of Grultain was warming and Winter was retreating, buying the Empire precious ti to recover. And all it had taken was enough gold to make the accountants whimper in pain and agony as they drew up the paperwork. Gus didn't care. He'd ordered Themis to spend money. Gold was easier to replace than good n. Legion morale would have been crushed to lose hundreds of their own. Instead, casualties were unbelievably low, at least on the Empire's side. The sa couldn't be said of Winter.
"Bring a map of Northern Grultain." The map appeared imdiately and the Emperor peered over it. It was always good to refresh your knowledge before making decisions. As he rembered, Gadobhra was in the far north, separated by a long mountain range and impassable swamps from the rest of the Empire. Rowan Keep sat in the middle of the narrow pass leading south. Gadobhra was protected by the Keep, and the Empire was protected from Gadobhra. More importantly, the strategic resources that Baron William was building up were protected. Armies moved on their stomachs and stomachs needed at and bread.
Running south from Rowan, the road ca to Hurlsford. It was a large town, but not heavily protected. Winter would hit it hard soon, hoping to draw out the forces at Rowan Keep and weaken the defense. He also expected that their forces would nace Dalesford and the long line of small villages along the road to Thunderhead. Two of the ssages had ntioned those villages. So people felt that the Baron of Gadobhra was increasing his reach. He was buying up land, planting crops, and spending money. The nearby villages certainly didn't mind, but other nobles were upset at the move.
Baron Pinchpenny in Northguard strangely wasn't one of them. He seed to care little about what happened to his people. Under his watch, the roads had deteriorated and his people had moved to greener pastures. (A polite way of putting it.) Gus was greatly bothered by the fact that a hereditary Baron with so much land and a large Legion Fortress at his disposal could behave this way. A dozen letters and ssages went unanswered, and if he wasn't in the middle of a war, (Or two or three.), he'd have sent the Inquisition and Themis to pay him a visit and knock sense into him. Unfortunately, he needed Northguard, despite its silence and broken Teleport stone.
He also needed to protect Hurlsford, feed his armies, and fix the Teleport network so he could deal with Orcs in the South and maybe an incursion of Lizards from the tip of the Empire. Worries about the dangers of high-level peasants could wait for later. Right now he needed those groats and anything else they could provide. The ray of sunshine was the taxes that Baron William now owed for all those Tier two and three people working his fields. William was motivated by gold and the less he had, the more useful he'd be.
"Fetch Procurator Smythe and his staff. Tell him to pack his bags and tax forms, I need him for an important mission."
The Procurator, normally an early riser, had also had a late night. The high stacks of accounting needed to keep Baron Zim, Etherhart, and Hardhurdle honest weren't going to sort themselves out. He'd instructed his bodyguards to keep everyone away from him until noon, so was surprised when Sanguine knocked on his door, entered, and handed him a scroll with the Imperial Seal stamped so recently that the wax was still warm and soft. He read it three tis, then rolled it up and tucked it into his robe.
"Assemble my staff please, full complint, and we'll be gone for so ti, so pack everything. Three carriages, I'd say. We'll swap those out in Rowan Keep for horses, but I want to have every book on tax law that might pertain to Gadobhra. The Baron is sly and has an advisor on staff. Then call for Procurator Jenkins. He's annoyed lately with his stories of sunny vacations at the shore. He's being too obvious in the money he's spending and needs more work. Dump all the pending paperwork on my desk to him. ntion that this transfer of my workload is by the direct order of Emperor Gustavus and that I'll be out of town for so ti. He's not going to be enjoying that beach house for a long ti."
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