Battleborne

by Dave Willmarth

  One by one the wagons and riders passed through. In all it took nearly twenty minutes, as each one had to wait for the previous traveler to clear the arrival zone. When the last of the rear guard had ridden through, Max handed the mage ten gold as a tip, and stepped through himself.

  Stormhaven! Max stood just a few steps from the portal and took in the view. It was limited by his position, being inside the walls of the inner keep. He knew the city was arranged in two half-circles. The outer wall faced out toward the wide cavern floor and the mushroom forest. Both ends connected with the wall of the cavern, melding into the stone. Between the outer and inner wall were scores of buildings, with streets and alleyways in between. The main street ran straight from the outer gate to the inner, passing through a large market square with a central fountain. The buildings themselves were an assortment of shops, inns, crafting buildings, official buildings like the tax collector’s office, and homes.

  Beyond the square was the inner wall, just as high and thick as the outer, only shorter. It was much closer to the cavern wall. Within that gate were the palace and its ancillary buildings. Stables, armory, barracks. There were two towers, one on either side of the palace entryway, each of them at least fifty paces in diameter and extending upward seven stories.

  The old chamberlain was there to greet him, and Max noted several of the other councilors were speaking with the orcs and pointing them in various directions, most of them going out the gate into the larger area of the city. He saw Smitty walking into the stables with Pokey and a few other mounts, an orc behind him leading six more. All around them atop the wall were a mixture of dwarven and kobold guards, armed and armored, watching the orcs with suspicion.

  Max smiled at the councilor in front of him. “You can hardly tell there was a battle here. Thank you for all the work you’ve done in my absence.”

  The chamberlain bowed. “It has been our pleasure.” He looked over his shoulder to see who was near. “Haven’t had this much fun in ages!” Max chuckled, falling into step next to the dwarf, who led him inside the donjon through the wide double ironwood doors. They were clearly brand new, and Max assumed the old doors had been smashed during the battle. He was led to a large study filled with empty shelves. When the chamberlain saw Max’s gaze fall on them, he said, “The books were all written in the language of the greys. I had them stored in stasis on one of the lower levels, should you ever have a use for them, other than as kindling.” His tone was dry, and he gave a sniff. Clearly not a fan of grey dwarf culture. “I shall endeavor to replace them with useful tomes and entertaining volumes to your liking.”

  “You shall endeavor? Does that mean you’ll be taking over operation of the palace?”

  The dwarf bowed his head. “It is what I am most experienced at, sire. Unless you would prefer another?”

  “No, no. I’m thrilled to have you. Thank you.” Max was gritting his teeth, angry with himself for not being able to remember the old dwarf’s name.

  “Redmane.” The dwarf kindly filled in for him. “Talin Redmane, sire.” He ran his hands through his long white hair. “When I were a young lad this were a fiery red.”

  “Of course, master Redmane. And please, unless we’re in some sort of formal situation, please just call me Max.

  The dwarf clearly did not approve of the informality, but nodded his head. “As you wish.”

  The one thing in the study that wasn’t empty was the huge desk near the back. It was covered in three tall stacks of papers. Redmane motioned for Max to take a seat, and he was happy to find that it was a Max-sized chair. Settling in, he watched as the chamberlain pointed. “This stack on the left are urgent issues. Payrolls, repair status, inventory of available foodstuffs and other consumables, and estimates on how long they’ll last. The middle pile is trade agreements, applications from merchants and crafters, recommendations from myself and the other councilors. And the last pile is lower priority assorted items, like an accounting of the alcohol removed from your cellars by the kobolds since I arrived.”

  Max liked Redmane more by the minute. As a military officer he’d been required to complete all the reports for his unit. Some days, it seemed the paperwork was endless. Having someone to organize it for him like this was a miracle!

  “Alright, pull up a chair and let’s dig into this urgent items pile first.” Max scooted his chair closer to the desk, and Redmane hopped up into one of the large leather chairs facing the other side of the desk. He produced a thick cushion that elevated him to approximately Max’s level, and they got to work. “First things first, I was able to obtain some funds while we were in the orc’s city.” He withdrew twenty thousand in gold and set it on the desk between two of the paper stacks. “Do we have a treasury, or some other secure place to keep this? Is there a bank here?”

  “Yes to both. We have a secure treasury. Until you have hired a treasurer, I will manage the kingdom’s finances for ye. But ye need to find a true treasurer as quickly as possible. There be a bank in the outer city. It was run by greys, obviously. All of whom be dead. We have seized the building, and it remains under guard, pending yer decision on how to proceed. Ye can either seize the assets in the name o’ the kingdom, or reopen the bank and use them to provide loans and such. Or some combination o’ both. As far as we know, it was an independent bank, not tied to other branches on the continent.”

  Max had been staring at Redman’s face, blinking slowly. When the dwarf hadn’t spoken for a while, he shook his head and asked, “Did you say we have an entire bank’s worth of gold?”

  “We assume so, Max.” the dwarf’s mouth twisted a little as he said the name. “We have not opened the vault or any of the individual boxes, awaiting your input.”

  “That would seem like a pretty urgent issue to me.”

  Smirking, the dwarf reached over to the left-hand pile and pulled a sheet of parchment from very near the top. “This be a report on the bank that contains the information I just gave ye.”

  “Ah, yes. Well, thank you. You might as well know right now, I’m an idiot. I’m going to say and do stupid things. Please don’t hold it against me.” Max took the report and quickly perused it before setting it down. “Okay, when we’re done here we’ll go crack open the bank. We’ll use some of the funds for immediate needs, which I’m sure are in the rest of this stack. But I agree we should keep some of the assets there, find a qualified manager and staff to run the place, and use them to originate loans for crafters and merchants, or mortgages for those who wish to purchase homes.”

  Max scratched his head for a minute. “I suppose we should also keep a fund set aside for those non-greys who show up and can prove they had assets deposited there.”

  Redmane nodded. “Very good. Next we have the food supplies.” He handed Max another report.

  “The orcs brought a ton of food with them. Gr’tok, the commander who’ll you’ll meet shortly, spent about nineteen hundred gold on wagons, livestock, and supplies. I have the receipts here…” Max dug into his inventory and handed the papers to the chamberlain.

  Redmane looked through them quickly, then nodded. “This is very helpful. I think I shall like this Gr’tok, even if he is an orc.” Realizing what he’d said, he coughed into his hand. “My apologies, sire. Max. Old habits die hard. We are all of us attempting to adjust to the new alliances, but it may take some time.”

  “I understand, Redmane. As long as you’re trying to keep an open mind, we’re fine.”

  “I shall meet with commander Gr’tok and update this report. It seems there be enough food for several more days, at least. And with this significant contribution,” he motioned toward the stack of gold and platinum coins. “we will be able to purchase more.”

  For the next three hours, Max and Redmane plowed through the stacks of papers, dealing with the first two completely, and getting partway through the third before Max called a break.

  “How bout we go break open the piggy bank?” He suggested, rubbing his hands together.<
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  “Piggy bank?” Redmane raised an eyebrow.

  “Sorry, expression from my world. Kids often had these little ceramic pigs, and… You know what, never mind. Let’s go see what’s in the grey’s vaults.”

  Chapter 27

  The bank turned out to be a pleasant surprise. A crowd formed behind Max and Redmane as they approached the building. The old chamberlain snorted. “There’s been wagering since we secured this place about whether there be anything inside. I took a look around that first day, and saw no signs o’ break-ins. The vault doors look intact.”

  When they reached the outer door, Max smiled to himself. He waited while Redmane opened the door for him, ever the formal chamberlain. They passed through, and immediately several guards moved in behind them, blocking the jostling crowd that were trying to get inside for a look. Max paused and turned back toward the double doors.

  “You can look, but don’t touch!” he motioned toward the double ironwood doors, each at least three inches thick. “Guards, please open both doors so folks can see, but no one steps past the threshold. Understood?”

  There was some grumbling, but no one pressed the guards. Not even the kobolds in the crowd. Max and Redmane proceeded forward across the lobby that featured marble floors, columns, and counters. This bank had obviously spent some assets on its appearance. Redmane led the way past a few offices, including a large one with deep purple plush carpet that must have been the owner’s or manager’s office. At the end of the corridor was a gigantic round vault door. It was easily ten feet in diameter, set into a metal wall. The door itself was sealed so tightly against its frame that Max could barely see where one ended and the other began.

  As he peered at it, the impatient grumbling behind him increased. Dwarves took their wagering seriously.

  “How do we open it? I don’t see a combination lock. Or a keyhole.”

  Redmane grinned. “I officially seized this building on behalf of the crown. Put your hand on the wheel, there.” He pointed to the oversized wheel mechanism that looked much like the ones used to seal hatches on ships and submarines. The moment Max set his hand on it, he received a notification.

  Access: Approved. As King of Stormhaven and, by extension, owner of Stormhaven Bank, you may designate individuals who may access the bank vault. Would you like to access the vault now? Yes/No

  Max mentally selected [Yes] and the wheel began to turn on its own. There was a soft grinding from inside the door as the locking bolts were drawn back, then a loud clank as they hit their terminus. A second later, a soft hiss indicated that the air-tight seal was broken, and the door swung open just a fraction of an inch. Looking sideways at Redmane without turning his head, Max took hold of the handle and pulled, saying, “Follow my lead.”

  He opened the door just wide enough for himself and the dwarf to squeeze through, grinning as the crowd at the front door wailed in protest. Redmane chuckled when he caught on. “Ye be a cruel one, Max.”

  The vault was piled high with bars of gold along one wall. A quick estimate from Redmane was two hundred bars. On a stack of shelves at the back of the room were trays of gold coins that looked much like poker chip trays. The top shelf’s trays contained platinum coins, Max counted at least a dozen trays containing maybe twenty coins each. He whistled quietly, staring at the top shelf. “That’s about twenty five thousand gold worth of platinum coins.”

  Redmane nodded, turning slowly and taking in the whole vault. The right-hand wall, opposite the stacks of gold bars, featured a long set of shelves upon which were set various items of art, small boxes with precious metal trim and clasps, odd paintings with fancy frames, and a few items that glowed softly in the dim magical light of the vault. Being a grey dwarf city, they didn’t have much need for light, having the same gift of Darksight that Max shared with the dwarves.

  Max held up a finger to Redmane, grinning like a madman. Moving back to the door, he stuck his head out and shouted, “Which of you bet that the vault would be empty?!”

  There were groans from the crowd, and a few shouts of joy, including a ‘woohoo!’ from somewhere in the back. But it all ended quickly, followed by a long moment of silence as Max pushed the door open the rest of the way, and the crowd could see at least some of the treasure within. The silence erupted in a roar of excitement, then pushing and shoving as betters tried to reach those who owed them money.

  A moment later there were cries of, “A count! We need a count!” obviously from those who had further extended their betting to include just how much might be in the vault.

  Redmane turned his head. “The count be none o’ yer damned business! All ye need to know is that King Storm won’t have no trouble meetin’ payroll anytime soon!”

  There was some chuckling among the dwarves, and they began to disperse as the chamberlain motioned for the guards to close and secure the doors. Max said, “Once you’ve taken inventory, move a chunk of this to the palace treasury so we can meet payroll, as you said. Say, fifty thousand gold?” He paused, realizing he’d forgotten something important. “Earlier you said there was a treasury, but not whether there was anything in it.”

  “There is indeed. It were completely cleaned out when I arrived. Again, the door was undamaged, which leads me to believe the grey king might have had it all removed before the palace fell. Though I suppose it be possible the kobolds helped themselves. No dwarf would do such a thing.”

  Max was disappointed, loving huge piles of loot as much as the next guy. But the immense wealth inside this vault helped ease the pain. And he was slightly intrigued by the possibility that the treasury might be out there somewhere, stored in a cave or buried in a cavern, just waiting for him to find.

  “Fine, then. Let’s load enough of this into the treasury to keep the kingdom running for a while, purchase what we need. We also need to notify King Ironhand and the others to come retrieve their share. Ten percent of the total, I believe.” He reached up to the platinum shelf and took a single tray. Counting carefully while Redmane watched, he confirmed. “Yep, twenty coins per tray. Mark me down for taking this one.” He made it disappear into his inventory. “I’m going to buy some things for the city in Darkholm.”

  Redmane nodded. “I’m glad ye wish to keep careful track o’ these assets, sire. Max. Can I ask what ye intend to purchase? Ye do have merchants here in the city, and no offense to ye, but their barter skill be much higher than yers. They might be able to obtain what ye desire on yer behalf. And even with their markup, ye may save money.”

  Max nodded. “The first thing I want, if we don’t have them in a warehouse somewhere, is lights. Lamps for the streets, specifically. And for the public buildings. You and I can see just fine, but the orcs will be stumbling around blindly, as will many other races who come here.”

  “Do ye wish magelights? Or more conventional torches?”

  Max grimaced. “We’re underground, and I prefer the place not smell like smoke or tar all the time. Plus torches have to be replaced constantly. Are magelights very expensive?”

  “Normally, yes. That is, the materials be common enough, but the mages’ guild demands steep prices fer lighting and maintaining a city.”

  Max waited for the other shoe to drop. He hadn’t missed Redmane’s qualifier. When the chamberlain patiently remained silent, waiting for Max to ask the followup question, Max sighed. “Normally?”

  “Ye have a sort o’ unique situation here. This city be a blank slate. There be no active houses for any of the guilds. I’m sure if ye were to reach out to the mages’ guild and offer them the use o’ one o’ these buildings, they would agree to light the city streets for ye. If you’ll allow me to conduct the negotiations, I can nearly guarantee that the agreement will include maintenance fer ten years or so. Though they put a high value on it, it’s really just a dozen apprentices walking the streets once each week and renewing the spells, or replacing broken lights.”

  Let’s do that, then. And you can offer them a paid contract to install
lights in the palace, maybe the…” Max stopped speaking when Redmane shook his head no. “What?”

  “Fer the most part, mages be honorable beings. Especially dwarven mages. But the mages’ guild as an entity be less than trustworthy. There be members of many racial origins and faction loyalties, each with their own agendas. Yer palace needs to be secure, yer conversations private. I would not put it past ‘em to try to include some listening devices or other… enhancements… to yer lights should ye allow them access.” He paused as Max’s brow furrowed. “I would suggest hiring some independent mages, like Master Spellslinger and his apprentices, via a contract that specifically forbids such actions.”

  Max nodded. “Thank you. That never would have occurred to me. Please take care of both of those things. Tell Spellslinger I’ll add a bonus keg of Firebelly’s Finest ten year old if he’ll do the job quickly.” He thought for a moment. “I would also like to add some kind of perimeter security of a magical nature, if that’s possible.”

  “The engineers already be looking into that. There were enchantments in place that have now been broken. Repairs will be expensive, but much less so than if ye were to start from scratch. They recommend some modifications as well, just to keep the greys on their toes.”

  Max nodded as the dwarf spoke, already moving on to the next item. “I’d like the merchants to purchase large quantities of food, as non-perishable as possible. Enough to last our population during a week-long siege. And to continue to grow that supply as our population grows. In addition, I’d like to immediately purchase enough seed for half a dozen farms to begin planting right away. We need to become self-sufficient as soon as possible. The same with livestock.” He paused, reminding himself that Redmane knew his status as a Battleborne.

  “Do you have chickens on this world? I’ve seen eggs, but they are much larger than chickens. I don’t know what creature they come from. If there aren’t chickens, then we need several hundred of whatever creature lays those eggs.”