Mad Toffad's Keep

by Zack Finley

  "When we add people to our enterprise, we must be certain they will not betray this trust," sent Inoa. "Most of our hires will undergo a period of probation. If you doubt someone's trustworthiness contact me as soon as you suspect. I will read them and if necessary plant false memories and release them. Their oath of fealty to Duke Steve makes it very difficult to betray us, but, we do not want to rely on that alone."

  "Tobron is our chamberlain, he assigns tasks and balances the workload," I said bringing the group back to the task in front of us. "Keep him updated on your progress. Work with him to fine tune where your contributions will be most helpful to the overall project. He assigns Argon and me tasks just like everyone else. If you need help, ask. If you have spare time, tell him. Check the action plans he posts several times a day, so you know what is going on around you and perhaps what he plans you to work on next."

  "Our mundanes are important members of this family," I sent. "We must keep them safe and help them contribute to the best of their abilities. They will live amongst us, and we will welcome them."

  I didn't know if this would be a problem but wanted to say it.

  Marfo, Cleon's twin, was now in charge of recruitment, communication, and purchasing. Marfo was heavy with force and mind magic with strong earth magic and some water magic. She sold her half of a communications business to join us.

  Tobron assigned her mate Jord to be our new business manager. His immediate task was getting the ex-slaves from Augun transferred and settled as soon as facilities were available and to take charge of all apprentice training. Jord was strong in force, mind magic, and water magics with lesser earth magic. He had been a mid-level manager with a local appliance company. Tobron told us before that Jord had been eager to join our enterprise. Marfo was the one dragging her feet. Once Cleon committed, Marfo caved in quickly.

  Clive, Tobron's older brother, was our new construction manager. Clive had very strong earth magic; he'd been in construction for 50 years before retiring. His force magic was strong, with weaker mind, air, and water magic. He'd been helping Tobron on the headquarters building and was now building the new warehouse complex. We noted the wharf was next on the list of building priorities from Tobron.

  Loma, Clive's mate, was our new in-house enchanter and magical systems integrator. She sold her appliance company 10 years before. She no longer had any grandchildren to spoil and missed the challenge of working. She had solid force magic, strong air, and water magics but weaker mind and earth magic. Through the years, she'd helped her mate with many of his building projects.

  After the awkwardness of the preliminaries, the dinner got off to a rollicking start. It was like old times for Tobron's family. We felt included in the festivities. My favorite Klee market food vendor catered the meal, so I had no complaints about the food.

  We shared our glappner experience with the group, with Alba adding in what she'd witnessed at the hospital. While it had turned out okay, it served as a wakeup call we needed to find a better emergency teleport location. Right now, there were only four of us with health magic. As we expanded our combat teams, it would be critical to set up a triage location for deadman's teleport.

  Tobron also said something like a glappner could strike or attack from anywhere, all of us needed a safe place programmed for a last-ditch save. Inoa was reluctant to shift from Alba's hospital lobby until we had a reliable location of our own. She reminded us it saved at least one life already. Alba echoed her sentiments reiterating her staff was not pushing for a change despite the glappner episode.

  Alba spent her day, between trips to the hospital, getting the headquarters area organized, finding a caterer and helping Tobron get the suites and second unmated recruit area set up. She arranged to meet with Loma over breakfast to discuss the best way to harvest and use health magic. She was worried our ex-slave recruits from Augun would overwhelm the available health magic.

  Several of our recruits had already finished their dinner and were hoping for an introduction.

  Marfo and recruit Luzo arranged to review the job applications and skills assessments from our Augun ex-captives after dinner and to meet with recruit Braka over breakfast to review purchasing details.

  We told everyone we were looking for help cleansing the death cult funeral pyre, hiring guards and finding foresters and farmers. We suggested an armory and training area for a guard should be on some building list. Tobron and Clive promised to look into it. We promised Marfo we'd let her know if we had any success with our recruiting.

  "No problem," Marfo said. "You can never have too many guards, foresters or farmers, the more, the merrier. I should have a handle on who we have coming from Augun as well as those we should hire from Klee by noon tomorrow."

  "I'll be going around to all the camps in the morning and decide what order to bring them in," Jord said. "I need to know where we want them brought to. I hate to move them more than once; moving them twice will drain a lot of force magic."

  Argon volunteered Findot to help him manage the crowds.

  "I want to bring them straight to Klee if we can," I said. "We can transport them by ship to the keep when it is ready."

  Tobron looked at Clive. I sensed they were having a substantial but private discussion.

  "As much as I want to start on the keep, with the glappners unresolved we need to plan on being here longer than I hoped," said Tobron. "Clive will get this building ready for the influx of refugees in the next few days. We'll add a floor for them. We need to be ready to tend the younglings, too."

  "I'll talk with our five bargemen," said Argon. "I think they'll volunteer to help us teleport the ex-captives to Klee. They feel some responsibility for their fate, too."

  If they could make a few trips over several days, that could help get the freed captives here quicker. I reminded Jord to recharge the water systems at the camps. Tobron told him to start bringing some of the leaders back with him to Klee.

  "By morning we'll have a place to put them, it might not be finished, but it will be much better than where they are now," Tobron said. "We can provide medical care, too."

  Cleon had been quiet throughout dinner.

  "Is something wrong with Cleon?" I sent Inoa.

  "Nothing finding the assassin group won't solve," she replied.

  No one had asked why Cleon didn't have any assigned tasks. They all assumed he was working on something important for the Klee king.

  Before we broke up the dinner, Inoa announced she had a magic management system she wanted everyone to implement.

  "You can't leave the table until you are set up," Inoa said, standing and shaking her finger at them. Cleon and Marfa nearly spit out their drinks in reaction. That gesture wasn’t new to them. I was glad to see Cleon lighten up even if it was just for a second. I suspected Inoa had done it just to get this reaction.

  Inoa privately messaged Argon and me, "This is the precursor of your battery. I'm using the magic overflow to charge the wards and then all of our appliances in the building. You can still prioritize charging your own gear, this system just harvests whatever is left. Once Loma gets going, she'll replace this clumsy spell with a much better one."

  Argon messaged Findot and assigned her to work with Jord until they brought all the ex-slaves to Klee. She suggested Findot pick out an apartment before they filled up with new recruits, especially now we were serving food.

  Dinner was beginning to wrap up when Tobron messaged me privately, "What is it about your double shower? First Inoa told me we weren't moving in unless I made sure she had one. Now I just got the same message from Alba."

  I'd never tell.

  ◆◆◆

  Chapter 15

  Argon rolled up rugs and wall hangings from our old place and added them to her carryall. She originally planned to buy all new stuff for the suite but decided we had more important things to work on. She was stuffing the last few books into the carryall when Shala appeared.

  Shala looked the same. I still suspected
she had an extensive glamour disguising her features. To me, she still looked like an Earth woman. To Argon she looked Jaloan. It was one of the mysteries we hadn’t gotten to the bottom of. I suspected her actual appearance was much different.

  "I have little time," Shala said, staring at me. "But Argon thinks I can assist your enterprise and my cause by encouraging farmers and foresters to join your keep."

  I nodded.

  "That is doable; I'll provide Argon with their location so you can bring them within your keep. I suspect they will wish to bring more of their kin to your keep after a while. Will that be allowed?"

  "Of course," I said. "We also need blacksmiths, armorers, dock workers, teachers, soldiers, guards and almost everything. If you become aware of anyone desiring to relocate to our keep, we will welcome them."

  "I will do as you request, though I cannot tell them about the prophecy. Many are happy where they are and will not be interested. Some may be considering a move but are hesitating out of concern for the unknown. In those cases, an endorsement by a god can move them along."

  "We could use an experienced combat squad," I added. "If you can encourage your gate commander to staff up we'd welcome some of his trained troops. We already have an agreement to 'port in to aid him if he calls. That said, more trained troops will come in very handy in any end-of-the-world scenario," I said.

  Shala considered the suggestion. "The commander is already at maximum strength. I'll speak with him on this matter. When he is at full strength, he must turn away volunteers. He reported a sharp increase in volunteers recently; this may be why. I'll suggest making a trained group available. You'll have to provide their equipment, but I think you have access to plenty," she smiled at this.

  "Thank you very much," I said, unable to hide the relief I felt.

  I was reluctant to ask about King Ruton's recent attitude change, but Argon knew her goddess.

  "Do you have any insight into why King Ruton decided to align himself with us?" she asked. "We may need to share our knowledge of the prophecy at some point and don't know whether this is something to embrace or be wary of."

  Shala weighed her words carefully. "I have never told you the prophecy is a secret to be shared only amongst your closest allies. It is the prudent choice today, but I knew better than to bind you to secrecy."

  For a moment I thought Shala was done, but she continued, "Kings have a unique relationship with the gods. Not as close as acolytes or champions, but closer than most. Perhaps Avia provided a nudge or another god entirely. It could also be he is more receptive to their input than he was before."

  Shala smiled at Argon. "By bringing Steve Finley here, I have already intervened in the prophecy beyond my stature as a god. There are external limits on what more I can do. I was powerless to save Steve's life when he was so gravely injured. My intervention would have set off alarms amongst those who monitor such things.” She paused and changed the subject. “While, encouraging my worshippers to join your keep may not raise concerns, compelling anyone to do something against their free will be problematic."

  She looked around the room, which was beginning to look abandoned. "I do not expect to see both of you again for some time. You have already created so much disruption in this timeline I cannot be seen helping you overtly. This meeting was a slim risk, but I dare not repeat it. If Argon needs to contact me, as my worshipper, I can respond. I will encourage my people to consider joining your keep. There are even people in Kavil and Ylee who might welcome rescue."

  Shala looked directly at me, "Steve Finley you are now the wild card in this dire prophecy. Prophecies are not easily diverted. They can be impacted by free will. Any further input I provide could derail your efforts. I will not risk that. I must leave."

  Shala was gone, and I felt weird.

  Argon shared the contacts Shala left in her mind. That would wait until the morning; we needed to meet with Capt. Malek, tonight.

  We 'ported to our suite to drop off our furnishings and then to the Klee docks. My mind-reading app showed that lawfulness had the upper hand, tonight. King's guards were walking the beat. Despite the darkness, those interested in robbery and mayhem were nowhere about. I approved.

  We found the Malan easily and called to announce our arrival. We were expected. One of the deck hands escorted us to the captain's cabin.

  "We are expanding our holdings in a major way," began Argon. "We want you to lead our shipping fleet."

  "How many ships do you have?" Malek asked.

  "None, yet," said Argon.

  "Shipping does not look like a good investment right now," Malek answered. "There are so few cargos for the number of ships, owning them makes little sense."

  "Would you be willing to meet with Tobron at our headquarters, we can have a glass of graal and speak bluntly," I suggested.

  I messaged Tobron to meet us at the headquarters’ tavern with some graal, ready to twist Malek's arm.

  I knew Malek preferred to maintain control by having us in his cabin; he also realized we were the only game in town.

  Argon gave him the teleport location to the front entrance. We agreed to meet there in a few minutes.

  Argon and I teleported to our suite and dropped off our helmets and weapons. A quick caress with Allo and we ‘ported out. I went to the foyer to wait for Malek. Argon met with Tobron to open up the tavern.

  I sat at the front desk and considered what we learned from Shala. I was pleased to have a group of trained soldiers available very soon. Once we had that core group, Argon could work with the gate guards to acquire more. I had no problem going to their assistance.

  I wanted to launch an offensive in either Kavil or Ylee. The government was gone, and the marauders were gone. There would be no organized opposition to our bringing humanitarian aid and restoring a modicum of government.

  Of course, we had to keep Losan from collapsing first. Plus, Augun was still too close to chaos to ignore. Even if I let King Ruton worry about any new threat to Klee, King Ruton and I needed to discuss the future very soon.

  I had more problems than solutions, but I felt sure recruiting Capt. Malek fell into the solution category.

  Malek ported into the lobby. I greeted him and led him to our new tavern. Part of the reason for meeting at our tavern was to let our wards do their work for us. Inoa estimated anyone with ill will towards us, even the most talented mind mage, could only last about 20 minutes in our building. The effect was so subtle, she didn't expect anyone to even suspect magic was the reason they didn't want to be nearby. Inoa was monitoring Malek. She initiated a subtle pressure to weaken his mind shield to read inside. Mind magic was his weakest magical skill. We needed to verify he would be a trustworthy manager.

  Tobron and Argon were already in the tavern, sipping graal around a cozy fire in a corner I hadn't noticed the day before. I poured myself a glass and offered Malek some. He declined but accepted a glass of juice, when Tobron offered. By the time we got resettled, Inoa was reporting her findings. She scanned deep enough to conclude Malek would be a trustworthy addition to our growing flock. Her scan and his ability to stay in the building were good enough for the rest of us.

  Argon thought I should make the final pitch.

  "I agree with your observation about shipping being a bad current investment," I began. "I'm afraid you aren't even aware of the worst. Ylee and Kavil are in chaos, their ports were destroyed. Their governments are gone. Augun is in ruins. Augun’s government is trying to recover, but its business community was decimated. This leaves only Klee and Losan as viable trading partners on this coast of Jaloa."

  Malek was shocked, he had known business was struggling but not that it collapsed.

  "Losan is in the midst of a disruption of the ports I fear will spread. Klee will find it very hard to trade with itself," I said.

  Malek looked angry, "Why would you be interested in creating a fleet?"

  "We are less interested in business than we are in survival and saving innocents,
" Argon added.

  "King Ruton made me a Duke of Klee yesterday," I said. "He also gave us Toffad's Keep, which we intend to turn into a city to rival Klee. We are years away from accomplishing that. We are recruiting those rescued from slavers in Augun as well as a variety of others from Losan, Augun, and Klee. As soon as we can, we will be trying to provide humanitarian relief to Kavil and Ylee. We have the resources, barring a complete collapse of civilization on the western side of our continent, to help people recover. We need a shipping fleet to move food, supplies, and people."

  "We have substantial resources," echoed Argon. "We can augment your ship and any ship you acquire with strong wards, to protect the ship and crews. We have strong requirements that everyone who becomes a citizen of the Duchy must be trustworthy. Our mundanes will receive strong mind shields. We will work with our mages to strengthen their mind shields. Join us for breakfast tomorrow, and you will see the impact of those shields."