Mad Toffad's Keep

by Zack Finley

  It was going to take between 30 and 60 trips to bring all the refugees from Augun to Klee. Tobron talked with Jord about using our five Augun bargemen plus scheduling all of our mages for some trips during the next few days. Marfo was going to hire her old firm to help with the transport as well.

  We looped Jord in on our discussion. "Jord, we don't have the people here to orient these new people all at once. Just living here will be a substantial culture shock. What if we bring three or four from each camp as soon as Clive has a place for them to live? We can put them in charge of helping the others get settled," I commed.

  Jord was at his second camp and had already brought four refugees in from the first camp. "It will change the selection criteria, but the idea is a good one. Findot can coordinate between our group and their leaders to ease the transition."

  "Do we have a better idea about how many people we need to prepare to receive," Tobron asked.

  "I don't know," Jord said. "So far the number at this camp and the last one doubled since Steve or Argon visited last. I'll have a much better idea after visiting each camp today. I'll have Findot transport two from here to the new residence to start the ball rolling."

  "I've spoken with Clive," Tobron sent. "He can handle 40 or so today in the new section without a problem as long as someone can set up the appliances as soon as the stonework is done."

  We looped in Marfo, Loma, and Alba. "Clive needs appliances set up for the first wave of refugees by the end of the day. They will also need bedding and who knows what else to start their households. We will expect them to eat at the café so no need to equip kitchens. Coordinate with Jord. At some point, he'll turn it over to Findot. As soon as we get these settled, expect us to bring in the rest as quickly as we can. We'll drain everyone's force magic down to minimum every day until they all get here," I said. "Alba we'll need you to triage them so we can maximize the benefits of our health magic."

  "We have the appliances in the warehouse, we just need to get them downtown," Marfo said. "We ordered this set fully charged, so they should be easy to install. Braka ordered a lot of bedding and other household fabrics before I arrived. Several local businesses can deliver them this evening after the cart travel ban expires. We have some on site now. We are so low on force magic; I'd rather not move by teleport. I'll also have seamstresses come in the morning to measure the adults for their livery. Tobron has been stockpiling food and other consumables in storage areas downstairs, but we are going to need more deliveries here in the near term. I'll meet with our caterer and let them know we are ramping up our population."

  "I'll set up the appliances," Loma sent. "I could do them in my sleep."

  "I'll come in after my rounds," Alba sent. "I'll need healing help from Steve and Argon."

  "Our top priority over the next few days is to get our refugees settled," I sent to the entire management team. "We are bringing in about 36 people from Augun by nightfall. We have 150 or more people coming in over the next few days as soon as we can transport them. I expect everyone to pitch in to help these new members of our family get here and settle in. Jord is in charge of this move so let him know what you can do to help." As expected, there were no dissenting views.

  Argon was still meeting at the temple with leaders from several villages. "They like to talk, but they are worried about their people. Each village has a new generation of young adults ready to strike out on their own. Some mated and some not. Many have finished apprenticeships in skills we can use. Once I have a tally, I'll let Marfo know."

  I went up to the top floor to see the state of the rooms for our new arrivals. The area left me cold; it was nothing like the pleasant habitat of our singles apartments or suites in the floors below. It was cold stone, with nooks for appliances. No doors, no storage cabinets or shelves.

  "Does this have to be so stark?" I sent Tobron, sending him a picture of the area. "They will think this is great until they see where everyone else lives."

  "I can get my contractor back to put in the doors and a few amenities in the common areas," sent Tobron. "We can also have their leaders look over the singles housing and have them suggest other additions. They may want a children's play area or youngling-oriented features we haven't thought of."

  "If nothing else have someone take some water features and plants from the singles areas to put up here," I sent. "But letting them choose what goes into the common areas makes sense."

  "We cannot get enough beds in here for them; I doubt there are enough beds available in the city. Marfo is concentrating on textiles and bedding right now. She has also purchased every available trunk in town. We have hired several local artisans to make bedding, trunks, and furniture for us. This includes several barges of raw material from upriver," said Tobron

  I thanked everyone for their efforts and vowed to stay out of their way.

  With Argon on her temple tour and everyone else doing something important, I felt out of sorts.

  "Follow up with Master Orik," suggested Argon, who was now in the Losan temple. "If you actually get to see him, call me if you need me, and I'll come."

  I put on my armor and prepped my emergency combat spells and teleported to Orik's office in Losan. I was happy to see the same clerk at the desk as yesterday.

  "Do you know when Master Orik will have time to meet with us," I asked. Despite the clerk's good quality mind shield, he couldn't hide that Orik was in the office today.

  "Let me check," he said, scurrying into the back.

  The clerk had just vanished into the inner sanctum when one of Orik's apprentices stepped out. "How can we serve you today," he asked.

  "We have been waiting for Master Orik to contact us on a private matter," I said. "Time is a luxury we do not have. Could you tell him Duke Steve from Klee wishes to speak with him." I didn't know whether using the title would help but figured it couldn't hurt.

  The apprentice seemed impressed because he promised to be right back.

  Master Orik stormed into the foyer a few moments later.

  "What is this Duke Steve business," Orik shouted. "Telling tales to my apprentice ill becomes you."

  "No tale, truth," I said.

  Orik closed his mouth as his truth sense told him he'd stepped in it.

  "Mind you I've only been duke for a day and don't have my livery yet," I said. "I do have a keep and a Duchy Guard, though. Do you think we can meet in a more private setting to discuss business?"

  Argon had been monitoring and decided I had this well in hand. She'd come if it would help but she was making progress at the temple.

  Orik escorted me to the same room we met in before.

  "I haven't had time to research the pieces," Orik admitted. "And the council doesn't meet for another month or so. There has been nothing to apprise you of."

  "While those are of serious interest to me, what I have to tell you is a whole lot more important to you. If word of what we say here today gets to the wrong ear, Losan as you know it will cease to exist."

  Orik's disbelief may not have leaked through his mind shield, but it was well represented on his face.

  "What could you know that could be so critical?" he asked.

  "The governments in Kavil and Ylee have disintegrated. As best I can tell, society there is gone. Only a last-minute rescue of King Rufix thwarted a murderous coup in Augun. The coup hasn’t destroyed the Augun government, but it murdered the heir and thousands of innocents. The Augun economy is in freefall. The king is concerned about famine."

  Orik stared at me in a way I assumed meant he was sharing the information with someone.

  "A traitor was the cornerstone of the Augun coup. Losan is the next logical target. A Losan traitor is probably hard at work undermining the stability of the Losan government. Should Losan’s traitor learn he is compromised, I believe he will launch the Losan coup without waiting. This is the information I believe can bring about the immediate collapse of your kingdom."

  Until now, Orik had been standing next
to the door, ready to end the discussion. He collapsed into a chair and gestured toward the next chair.

  I took it as a suggestion and sat.

  "I assume you have some type of proof?"

  "I can take your representative to Augun, Ylee, or Kavil if you want proof they were attacked. I can share the entire plot that unfolded in Augun. In Ylee and Kavil, I just have their current state, including the incineration of the port districts to confirm their plight. Most of what I know from there is from scanning the survivors,” I said, pausing to see if Orik had a question.

  "The evidence of a plot in Losan is speculative but still present. Having a high-level traitor involved limits how much investigation I can do to find direct evidence. Klee and Losan are not close diplomatically, and even the mage guilds are more competitive than allied. Some of my information is of a confidential nature, and I am not free to share it," I said.

  "Even if your information about Losan is mistaken, the information about Augun, Ylee, and Kavil is devastating. Almost everything the armorer guild produces is for export," said Orik.

  "I've approached you because I am confident you are not a traitor and frankly, time is running out for me to find a better contact," I said. "My mate and I received near-fatal injuries in thwarting aspects of the Augun plot, and I don't want to see another nation collapse."

  "What about Klee?"

  "I cannot discuss Klee."

  "What makes you think Losan is next?"

  "You already have a major conflict underway in your harbor district. It is already impacting businesses throughout Losan. It would take very little escalation to precipitate a major economic crisis. At this point I can't tell if it was instigated by a foreign agent or whether the foreign agents are just taking advantage of the situation for their own purposes," I said.

  "Excuse me for a moment," Orik said, stepping out of the conference room. The clerk brought me some chee. I sat and fretted.

  True to his word, Orik returned before I finished my chee.

  "I've called an emergency meeting of the armorers’ ruling council, I'm hoping you will 'port there with me," said Orik. "I just received confirmation about the situation in Augun."

  "Of course," I said.

  Orik clasped my arm, and we ‘ported to a large conference room. My direction sense told me this was also in Losan but closer to the keep. Orik suggested a chair near one end of the table. He sat next to me.

  Within a few minutes, four others 'ported into the room to join us. Orik introduced me to each one as Duke Steve of Klee. All were well shielded, and I suspected my title meant little to them.

  The four men looked surprisingly alike. Like Orik, each wore well-worn leather aprons. Each was stocky in build with brawny arms and gnarled hands. Jorvik, the man seated at the head of the table, looked ancient. His white-streaked fur was wiry and disheveled. Wrinkles puckered his dark leathery face. The others deferred to him.

  "What is this about, Orik?" Jorvik growled.

  "We have a situation," Orik replied. "Of the five main nations on this side of the continent Kavil and Ylee are no longer viable countries and Augun is a ghost of itself. If anyone is expecting to export goods to them, they won’t be able to pay."

  I could tell this wasn't news to these folks; Orik likely used this information to bring them to the table.

  "Duke Steve of Klee tells me Losan is next." Orik pointed in my direction.

  They all stared at me.

  "Why are you bringing this information to us and not King Arvich?" asked Jorvik.

  "I don't have a way to meet with the king without potentially tipping off the traitor," I answered. "And time is running out."

  The group said nothing out loud for several minutes, but I could tell their mental links were getting a workout. Two even gestured from time-to-time.

  Argon messaged she was helping Jord move two sets of refugees. She still thought I had this situation handled.

  "The information you have provided is of high value," said Jorvik. "But, we despise being embroiled in politics. In that, you have done us no favor. Some on the council are not convinced Losan is being targeted. I hope they are right. If we act to prevent a non-existent coup, we look foolish, but life goes on. If we don’t act to prevent a real coup, we deserve the outcome. I've been foolish many times in my life."

  I was encouraged but still didn't know what Jorvik could offer.

  "The rumors of a business disruption in Augun are all over the docks. I now understand why there have been no ships from either Ylee or Kavil in many weeks. Both Losan and Klee will both suffer a financial downturn once a ship returns with information about Ylee and Kavil. Knowing this earlier than most is an economic advantage for our guild. We owe you for this information," said Jorvik, looking around the table. From the nods, there seemed solid support for this from his fellows.

  "While the information about Losan is speculative, I believe we must alert King Arvich. To allow you to avoid the traitor, we will ask King Arvich to meet here to look at some armor we never thought to see again. He collects unique pieces of armor. I expect he will be eager to come and may bring some of his advisers. I look to you to determine whether any who attend with the king are traitors. Can you do that?"

  "Yes," I answered.

  "We will try to set up the meeting for tomorrow in this conference room. I suspect you will want to wait outside the room to examine the attendees?" Jorvik asked.

  "Yes, that would be best. They won't be able to read us, but I prefer to avoid raising suspicions."

  "Good, I'll arrange to meet alone with them first. I'll open a communications channel to you before the meeting so we can remain in touch. Coordinate the logistics with Orik," said Jorvik.

  "Since I will use your armor to lure the king here," said Jorvik. "I’d like to examine it. I was an apprentice when our finest armorers created it and even then, wasn't allowed to touch it."

  I removed the chest piece and handed it to him. "It saved me yesterday from a glappner attack," I said. "It was stabbing me over and over with its stinger but didn’t get through."

  For the first time since he came into the room, Jorvik actually looked at me and not my armor. "Where did you meet a glappner?" he asked.

  "We woke up a nest of them in our keep."

  "I've never met someone who disturbed a nest and lived to tell of it," Jorvik said.

  "We only killed four; we walled up the rest."

  Jorvik turned back to studying my chest armor. He was stroking the grain of oso leather in an oddly sensual way. "This is a fine piece, " he murmured, turning it side to side as he examined the stitching. "I'm happy to see it is fully charged, not every warrior can do that."

  He reluctantly handed it back to me, and I quickly put it back on.

  "I've heard ghost glappners can be killed by submersion in water during their dormant phase. Something about dissolving their protective membranes. Once they are active, water just annoys them," Jorvik offered.

  "So far, we've exploded, decapitated, and incinerated them. If I could see them, glappners would be much easier to kill."

  "I have heard that is one of the problems with glappners," Jorvik offered.

  "The one the armor saved me from was the first one in the nest we noticed. I was glad I had this kukri because glappner strands are hard to cut." I showed Jorvik my kukri.

  He was very interested in its design. "This is a masterpiece," Jorvik said. "Not from Losan but a masterpiece none-the-less. I am not familiar with this style of blade, but I see it could be very deadly."

  "I've not a skilled swordsman," I said. "This gives me many of the advantages of a sword without the training requirement. Training in combat magic is so much more important. My blade and even my armor are just back-ups."

  "I can see that. I'm surprised the king's guards haven't adopted these type blades, they never have enough training to use swords effectively."

  "Do you know someone in Losan who can make kukri for my Duchy Guard?" I asked.


  Jorvik looked at Orik.

  "I am honored for my armory to craft blades for your guard," Orik offered. "Please let me examine it." Orik pulled a set of calipers from his apron and made a series of measurements.

  I was reluctant to make any commitments without talking with my guard. "I'll discuss the matter with my guard commander and my purchasing team will get back to you."

  This seemed to wrap up our business. I made sure Orik and Jorvik could contact me before I 'ported for home.

  I contacted Argon, Cleon, and Inoa about the King Arvich meeting and asked if I should meet with King Ruton beforehand.

  Cleon and Inoa were relieved I found a way to get to King Arvich. I got the impression, although they shared nothing specific, their investigation was making poor progress. Cleon agreed to update Commander Flexon, but not until morning.