1-Star Meeting Room, Fort Erment 3F, Erment County 

Fortresses are one of two upgrade paths available to an Outpost - the most basic form of settlement - the other being a Village. They're able to accommodate much better military facilities and defend themselves adequately against most mundane threats so long as the occupants make the most of it. They can never become a Town or City, but they have their own progression path which mirrors it. I've never personally seen it, but amongst the highest possible examples include Dimensional Castles and Airborne Strongholds, which only the wealthiest and most elite organisations had access to, never mind the ability to create, staff and maintain them.

But by far the most iconic Fortress I know of, and one of the Empire of Stone's biggest trump cards, responsible for holding down two warfronts simultaneously in the present day, is Mobile Fortress 'Paradigm'. A huge, mountain-sized Sagecrafted Astral-Tier Magitech structure that is capable of teleporting itself via artificially simulated Divinity, interfering with the 'Laws' of reality and magic to leave and arrive no matter what kind of interference you throw at it. Meaning that it can shift the tide of battle on a battlefront hundreds of miles away or retreat to safety with a VIP or some other high-value commodity on command. Hence the name, probably.

It guzzles City-grade Magic Cores for fuel as the major drawback; So for better or worse, it can't be used to its full potential. Foundation would look very different without that caveat holding the Empire of Stone back both logistically and financially. Paying for it's upkeep is ironically killing the Empire even as it's the biggest reason keeping the Empire in power.

Fort Erment is, obviously, nowhere near that level of absurdity, but it's still extremely well furnished with Training Halls, Meditation Rooms, and more I'd love to spend some time making use of. It's a snapshot of what Voinete Mansion might look like by the time we reach 2-Star Rating as a Guild. Walking through the hallways and seeing what's available inspires a small amount of envy for what it must have cost, but overall it only motivates me to make Truthseekers the best it can be. The potential exists, even if it feels like for every step forward we take a half-step back.

The 1-Star Meeting Hall is barebones with no special functionality at this star rating. A single, long table crafted from wooden planks like an elongated picnic bench table. Seated nervously along it are about a dozen people in the uniform of the local militia and military. Most of them male Firm, and two Silva, one male, one female. The Silva man is my presumed majordomo, while the woman shares some of his features, including the skittishness.

Sweeping my gaze across each of them, they all shrink back anxiously, some wondering if they're guilty of something, others just plain scared of me. Not a single person in this room - excluding myself, obviously - seems to have anything resembling a backbone, which I find highly worrisome. These are the people I'm to trust with my back?

It leaves me wondering if Count Erment's attitude is a chicken or egg coming first situation, but I lean towards it being mostly his fault. Partly because I'm feeling petty, but it's pretty self-evident what the source of their fears is - the person whose role I've taken up. You don't get this kind of atmosphere without some pretty serious and entirely deliberate abuses towards this outcome. Like a pack of young dogs, they've been thoroughly broken and domesticated to suit their master's tastes in pets.

It's nauseating.

Nothing I can do about it. They're long-dead, and I have to make the most of the Trial presented to me, so getting angry is pointless. Inhaling, I raise my voice to call the meeting to order, "All present, declare yourselves."

"Trey, Assistant Castellan," the Silva man calls out, confused as the others.

An eager middle-aged man with patchy stubble cuts in next before Trey's sister(?) can speak, "Klent Arv, Captain of Arv Squad!"

"Ocie, Quartermaster," the female Silva follows up, irritated by the interruption.

"Yolis, Militia Commander," the oldest looking person in the room mentions.

"Erket, Ehgdfoulet," a man with the air of a spellcaster half-stammers, puffing himself up to seem more impressive.

After that, it gets hard to keep track of who is who, but the majority are just beneath Yolis in the hierarchy, with foreign-sounding titles. They're each in charge of a different facet of the military, but they're not in control of any sort of executive power like he is. The difference in rank also explains why their presence seems so feeble in comparison to even a random stranger on the street right now. Yolis at least has only a scant few degrees of separation in rank to me, while they might as well be at the bottom rungs craning their necks to look up at the sun.

It's a feeling and position I am well-accustomed to myself, so to be on the other end of that is a curious thing. I find it hard to imagine I was ever so spineless though, I had my pride - and the guild's prestige - to consider even then.

I'm getting distracted. Let's move this along.

"There are trespassers on this land," I announce, "Doubtless, many of you are aware of that by now. I have called you here to see about removing them. Last report places a few nosy spies at the forest's edge. Odds are their main host is hidden further in - how were they able to get this close without an alarm being raised?"

Sweeping my gaze across them all, they shrink back, guilty. Save for the mouthy captain, Klent Arv clears his throat and stands, bowing obsequiously to me, "Ikonte, please leave this in the hands of Arv Squad! I'll see them dead amongst the boughs by nightfall!"

"Sit down, Captain," Yolis growls, shoulders tensing up, "Do not speak out of turn. Ikonte, please forgive my subordinate's haste-"

"Ah, covering for your nephew again?" Erket tuts, "Ikonte, pay the old ditherer no heed. The Wards placed on the borders of the territory are still in complete working order, of course; There haven't been any movements large enough to trigger them and they appear to have avoided the areas with heavier scrutiny with surprising efficacy."

"You suspect they have intimate knowledge of our defences?" I ask half-rhetorically.

"Impossible!" Yolis declares hurriedly, "Nobody would be fool enough to betray you, ikonte!"

"There will ever be fools when people gather," Trey sighs, "Such is the way of things. Though I too find it hard to imagine any would be so bold as to assist bandits in pillaging their home - not least because that information could only come from someone in a position of responsibility."

"Are you accusing one of us?" Erket demands, insulted, "We would never allow such riff-raff in our home!"

"Ahh, but can you offer an alternative explanation?" Ocie asks sweetly, "Or are you concerned your complicity has been revealed?"

"Why-!"

"Enough," I raise my voice, the officers going instantly quiet, "We can determine responsibility for this lapse once the immediate threat has been dealt with. Once this meeting is adjourned, I want the fort searched from top to bottom, and a squad sent through our escape passages to ascertain their safety and secrecy. You are to assume that all pertinent information to the operations of this fortress is in danger of having been leaked already, and assess the risk promptly."

"""Ikonte"""

"For now, I want a workable plan for subjugating the main host," I continue, tapping the table thoughtfully, "Yolis. What forces are ready to mobilise?"

"Ikonte, all militia are ready to move on your order!" Captain Arv claims enthusiastically, "Inclu-"

"As he says, ikonte," Yolis hastily covers his mouth, "The citizenry is ever waiting for your command. An expeditionary force is already being assembled in expectation."

"If they've taken up a position in the forest, we can surround it and push towards the centre," Trey suggests, "If they attempt to break the encirclement, we'll have a second line at the forest's edge ready to receive them."

"Spreading ourselves so thinly will make puncturing our bellies and escaping easy," a lesser captain objects, "It's too slow, and any point of contact they choose to pressure will be at a disadvantage without the rest of our forces able to do anything."

"Do we really need to kill them, when forcing them back out of our borders accomplishes the same thing with less effort?" Erket gives an alternative, "Send a large enough force in from the East and they will flee like rats into the wards. If they have the means to escape even then, let them."

"Such indolent cowardice," Ocie sniffs derisively, "I agree that we needn't attempt subtlety, but letting them keep their lives after eyeing what belongs to us and trespassing on our homeland? Never!"

"Sister..." Trey reaches over to calm her, "We don't know for certain they're in the forest, sending that many people out at once chasing shadows may well leave us vulnerable to the true threat should we be mistaken in that belief. We need to send scouts of our own first to locate our unwanted guests."

"As I keep offering, the Arv Squad is ready to perform any duties ikonte asks of us!"

"But if-"

"Even if that's the case you be sure..."

Order in the meeting starts breaking down. Every person has thoughts, opinions and suggestions. They're all desperate to prove themselves and gain 'my' favour. My continued silence only exacerbates their anxieties, raising their voices and barking insults at one another that their words might become dominant over all others that I might hear and acknowledge them.

It's giving me a headache. Less because of them, as it happens, instead because I can just imagine the smug look on Count Erment's face right now. Probably thinks that he's teaching me a lesson. In actual fact, I am learning a great deal just letting them talk from the heart. Small details about the interpersonal relationships of these people, the bigger picture context and nuggets of useful tactical info. It's like listening to several university lecturers debating at once, and about as difficult to parse.

I should probably still step in to bring the meeting back to a sensible volume, but just taking the time to hear them out and form a cohesive plan from each of them is not without it's own value. Even as hazily recalled facsimiles formed from the convent between Count Erment and The Library of the Heavensent, this is likely the most freedom to express themselves these people have ever experienced since entering his service.

---

 

Meanwhile

The Lovno Reivers' Leader

A Cave, Lendal Forest, Erment County

Grunting and growling, the filthy overgrown heap of muscle known these days as Striker rouses from troubled dreams, the wisps of a curse on his breath as the memories of the day the Anguished Core, fattened by failed delves and irreversibly corrupt, broke open well ahead of a wandering Maehjen's predictions.

Striker made a point to hunt the incompetent lout down and make him feel every delicious little agony the monsters inflicted on his family, friends and neighbours. It gave him something to vent the grief of his wife's passing on, and marked the start of a dark addiction. Torture, he found in the weeks that followed, suited him better than he ever could have thought possible - something he once considered beneath him.

Looking over to the wooden chest in the dim corner of this dingy back-end of the cave, he smirks widely, relishing the next time he got to play with his 'toy'. This one is still fairly new, and the sounds it makes are pleasant to his ears. But it's best to let it recuperate from the previous night's activities.

He doesn't want to break it by being careless - corpses and mindless puppets are no fun.

"'ey, Niirk, you're up?" his right-hand girl - a middle-aged Kon named Lonci - pokes her head around the corner, "Everyone's ready, just been waiting on you to finish your beauty sleep."

"It's Striker nowadays, sapling," he yawns, not putting much energy into correcting her, "Diggin' under those egag wards was tiring work."

"Didn't stop you from 'aving some extra fun wiv that poor sod in the box," she shakes her head, displeased by her boss's new hobby.

"It's relaxing," Striker shrugs, grinning shamelessly, "'e makes just the most adorable squeak when ya kick'em in his stomach."

Lonci lets out a long-suffering sigh, "Forget it. Come on, the militia mutts have been sniffing around, we're getting on with it with or without you."

"Mind your tongue, Loncie," he growls, "Else I'll get t'carving your arms and legs into kindling for tonight's bonfire celebration. How's our little friend in the castle?"

"Quiet," she huffs, "The big man up top called a meeting and they're all on alert for turncoats. They can't do much anymore."

Striker stretches out his tree trunk thick arms and cracks his neck, "Well, they've about run outta use anyway. By the time we get in there, they'll have their eyes so glassed over from the Polm Pollen they won't even feel my fingers tearin' their throat out, like as not."

"Ain't my business what you do with 'em," Lonci rolls her eyes.

"Mm. Let's go introduce ourselves to the fancy bloke in the castle's little lambs, eh?" Striker winks then starts equipping his gear for the imminent raid on Early Dawn Village, "Got a hankering for mutton. Wonder if the shepherd'll come out to play when he hears the bleeting?"

---

 

An Hour Later...

1-Star Meeting Room, Fort Erment 3F, Erment County

After a while, the quality of discourse on offer starts to take a noticeable dip. Well-reasoned points and interesting suggestions give way to name-calling and grandiose posturing for my recognition more and more.

"Just you watch, I'll have a brace of those bandits' skulls strapped to my saddle before you manage to muster enough motivation to utter a single spell!" Captain Arv boasts, challenging Erket for what must be the twentieth time.

"If you were capable of such a feat, I'd welcome the sight," Erket responds arrogantly.

"Of course! Arv Squ-"

"Will you please stop shouting in my ear!" Ocie smacks him over the head hard enough his face is slammed into the table, though it doesn't appear to have been enough to actually hurt him.

"Sister-"

"You can keep your lips clamped shut too, Trey!"

So it goes.

The general consensus thus far that we prepare for a defensive battle instead of abandoning our fortifications to play on their terms. It's a given that many of our contingencies and traditional strategies are no longer secret, but it's still got the greatest chance of success. My sole purpose here is to kill the boss with as few casualties as possible, so keeping my troops back will give me the most freedom to pursue that objective when he inevitably has to show himself.

Running around the county overturning every moss-covered rock looking for them is a waste of time, and I don't have enough of it. Taking the time to get everyone on the same page and learn about my environment is a worthwhile investment I feel, having said that. Act with intent, not with haste, as my original swordsmanship tutor liked to say. I should pay him a visit one of these days, come to think of it.

Now that it's gotten to this point, I believe I've given them enough slack. My patience for these playground antics is nearing the end of it's tether. I decide to speak up for the first time in a while, "Quiet down."

My voice is lost in the cacophony. I try again, but it falls on deaf ears, the officers too absorbed in their interpersonal squabbling to realise that I'm actually trying to gain their attention for a change. It's as if they've forgotten I'm here, and the 'ikonte' they're calling out for is a figment of their imagination sat in my place.

I don't want to give into my irritation again, and make of myself a hypocrite by running rough-shod over them. However, it's a fact that this chaos is accomplishing nothing and the clock is ticking down. I gave these people inch, and they ran a cross-continental marathon with it.

Then, something all too disconcerting happens.

 

 

 

'Ally' didn't just refer to combatants?

This is going to be a bigger problem than I anticipated. I won't last the full five hours if they're allowed to slaughter the other settlements in the county.