Liar King (Tower of Babel Book 2)

by Adam Elliott

  Attack: 1337 (10 base, + 6 Formation, +2 Leadership, +1 Warmaster)

  Defence: 2475 (10 base, + 6 Formation, +2 Leadership, +1 Warmaster)

  Special: None

  Resistances: None

  Weaknesses: None

  "Something caught your eye?" Cayden asked after several moments of studying the same screens.

  "Hmm?" Silver asked. He was about to repeat himself when the words finally processed inside her mind, and she indicated a number of fields. "The math seemed wrong to me. Didn't you notice?"

  "You mean the Warmaster bonus?" At her nod, he continued. "I found it on the Frame this morning. I can designate any unit on our side as Warmaster, and that unit gives half their Leadership, rounded up, as a bonus to all units. The full bonus, in the event that they are actually with the unit."

  "Why not assign Valserys?" She asked. "He has a +4. I don't think they'd even have scratched our units if you had."

  Cayden winced. "I needed a control case." The smirk was already beginning to form on her face, and he quickly continued his thought in an effort to get ahead of it. "The next fight, I'll nominate Valserys, and see how much XP I get towards leadership."

  "Ah, so all that about not putting them at risk goes by the wayside when it comes to leveling up your skills, hmm?"

  "No." His cheek hurt from biting down on it. He didn't need another argument. "I tried putting Valserys in charge, and it doesn't give us any access to new Tactics. I need to know whether or not I get the same XP regardless of who is in charge because the Tactics might be make or break in some fights."

  "Chill, chill, I was only teasing." Silver held her hands up in surrender.

  No, you weren't. He thought. Still, he decided to drop the subject, returning his attention to the frame. "Decent experience for combat as well. If we can find other fights like this, we can feed them levels pretty quickly."

  "I was thinking the same." Silver directed his attention to the Third Company. "If I had to guess, I'd say five experience for a fight, and an extra ten for a kill."

  "Which means our best strategy against things we can beat and contain is to come at them in defensive formations to maximize the number of times we get to swing at them." Cayden mused.

  "Depending on how quickly they heal." Silver clarified. "Which, I suppose we'll find out as soon as the turn ends."

  "Mhmm. Before that, though." Cayden reached for the War Frame and selected Bastion's Second. A line glowed between the unit and their destination as he directed them from their support position to the mine itself.

  The moment the second crossed the threshold of the Hex, the Mine option on the nearby production menu began to glow. It pulsed for a few seconds, just long enough to draw Cayden's attention, before settling down into the same neutral color as all of his other active options. The mine was theirs now.

  With such an invitation, it would have felt almost rude to ignore it:

  Mine Development

  It's about time that you mine some Iron (1/1)

  Cost: 30 Production

  Production: +5 when worked.

  Iron resource now available.

  "Cayden, are you drooling?" Silver asked.

  "Only a little."He shot back without the slightest hint of embarrassment. A +5 bonus to production would be enormous by itself alone, to say nothing of the ability to produce new unit equipment. He almost swapped over to production of the mine then and there, but he held off on two counts.

  The first was that anytime workers were pulled off a project, it lost all progress made by the removed workers, which would be a substantial loss in the case of the Lower Township repairs. The second was that caveat. When worked. They'd all be best served if he spoke to Roberta about its meaning, before jumping that particular gun.

  "Might I make a recommendation, sir?"

  Field Marshall, he could take. But Valserys calling him 'Sir'? They were going to have a talk about that later. "Please."

  "An area subject to recent infestation is likely to have substantial rewards." A hand reached up to pull on one end of his waxed mustache as he spoke. Perhaps not the best visual image when one was talking about looting the dead, but Valserys didn't seem to notice the issue. "If we were to instruct the Second to search the mines before ordering them back, it could prove beneficial."

  "I was already planning on ordering a sweep to be sure we didn't miss anyone." Cayden smiled broadly. "We'll just call that an extra incentive."

  "Of course, Marshall."

  With the unit still selected, Cayden double tapped the banner that served as their visual representation. A small menu sprung to life just above it, with new contextual options due to their location. Site Search was at the top of the list, and Cayden gleefully selected it:

  This formation will be unavailable for three turns while Site Searching. Are you sure? Y/N

  "Well, that is a bit of a kick in the teeth." Cayden frowned. The plan had been to have all three units back inside Bastion by the end of the midday turn, but that wasn't going to happen. They could withdraw the other two, but he wasn't particularly excited about the idea of leaving a fifth of his combat strength out by itself with backup half a turn out of reach.

  Silver appeared to have the same idea, judging by the intensity by which she had begun to study the map. "We could leave the First and Second on site, then move the Third into the field, here." She indicated. "Puts them halfway between Bastion and the mine, with enough Move left to support both."

  "Works for me." He concurred, already directing the Third to spend its remaining movement in order to start them on their way. With that done, he reached out and selected Y on the waiting menu.

  Immediately the Second moved into action, their miniature representations moving about like so many ants on the tabletop. They were building a camp, constructing some small measure of fortification and comfort. It was a good idea, actually, one he had the first replicate with the remainder of their turn. A unit with no less than half its remaining Move was allowed to take the Fortification action during its turn. This involved digging trenches, setting stakes, even setting up temporary watchtowers. It increased both the unit's sight radius, from two hexes to three, as well as gave it a 10% bonus to defense that was stackable up to a total of 40%.

  "So what now?" Silver asked.

  Cayden shrugged. "I guess now we wait."

  Chapter Twelve

  Day One - Midday Turn

  Resources – F – 240 +10, Z – 140 +10, M – 120 +10, I – 150 +20, P +17, R +10

  "Ah. Well that sucks."

  "A succinct way to phrase it, yes, Field Marshall," Roberta replied, her brow wrinkled in consternation. She hated being the bearer of bad news, he had discovered. Being the one who had to tell him that the city would not be able to work the iron mines for the increased bonus to production until it's population exceeded 1,000 certainly qualified.

  "Hmm, nothing for it," Cayden replied with a shrug. "Even so, depending on what happens with the Lower Township once this phase of repairs is completed, we may start work on it anyways. If only to have immediate access to the iron for steel production.."

  That seemed to give her pause. "Will you be sending me to oversee the construction?"

  He hadn't considered that. The War Frame abstracted things to a degree that it was incredibly easy to forget that he wasn't just playing a game, but giving orders. If he assigned Roberta to work on a project miles away from the city itself, he doubted she'd be available for these briefings. Which could be trouble when he still spent half the day plying her with questions.

  "I don't think so." Relief sagged the petite woman's shoulders, visible enough to prompt a question. "I take it you didn't want to go?"

  "Field Marshall, I would nev-"

  "Roberta." His interruption was as stern as a sixteen-year-old could manage when talking to an adult woman. "First off, Cayden, please. Secondly, I'm not mad. Just curious."

  Her bright eyes remained briefly guarded before at last she sighed
. "Caves unnerve me at the best of times. Recently monster-infested caverns, more so."

  "You do realize I wouldn't be sending you out with anything less than a full company as your bodyguard, right?"

  "You-" She started, taken aback by the statement. "I-I did not realize that."

  He reached out, placing a hand on her shoulder. She felt small under his grip, and it felt odd to reassure her in such a fashion, but the way her expression softened eliminated any measure of awkwardness from the moment. "I don't exactly have a wealth of mages." he felt her stiffen at that but pressed on. "And fewer confidants. I don't think I could handle losing you to some leftover critter in a dungeon."

  "Thank you." The woman replied, a tentative smile at last playing across her lips. "Ending up as a meal is not so high on my preferences either."

  Cayden cocked an eyebrow. "They eat people?"

  "Beastmen?" She snorted. "I am fairly convinced they'd eat anything not nailed down, if only so they could save the nails for last. Why I once-"

  "Begging your pardon, Field Marshall."

  The unexpected voice belonged to a lightly armored soldier in the strategy room doorway. How long he had been there, waiting for a moment to interject, was hard to tell, but from the way his chest was heaving, Cayden suspected it hadn't been long.

  "Can I help you...?" Cayden asked. They had been so busy over these first few days that Cayden had barely set foot outside the keep itself, let alone fraternized enough with the troops to begin to attach names to faces.

  "Sandoval, sir. I'm a runner attached to the keep guard." The soldier kept a strict posture despite his quickened breath. "I've been dispatched from the front gate. We have several individuals requesting an audience."

  Assigning troops to the front gate had been Valserys' suggestion. At the time it had seemed like a bit of comical theatre, the walls were so damaged and porous that there seemed little purpose in stationing troops at the one place an enemy was unlikely to approach. Valserys had rebutted him by suggesting it as training for once the walls were fully repaired. Apparently, he would owe the mustachioed Lord General an apology.

  "Did they seem dangerous?" Cayden asked. That they'd arrived at the gate at all suggested they were friendly, but there was no harm in asking.

  "My impression was that they were locals. Only one of the group was armed in any meaningful way."

  Cayden looked to Roberta. "We did expect civilians to arrive." She said. "We are counting on it, in fact."

  "Let them in. Keep them under guard, but be polite and respectful at all times." Cayden relayed to the runner. "I'll receive them individually in my study once the-"

  "In the throne room." Roberta cut in. "The Field Marshall will receive them in the Throne Room."

  Well, that explains that. Cayden thought. He'd been wondering what sort of audiences the Throne Room was going to throw at him.

  After a few seconds it became apparent that the soldier was waiting, that with two conflicting orders, he wasn't willing to depart without further guidance. "No sense in arguing, I suppose. Throne Room it is."

  ***

  "You look positively Regal Cayden." Shifty's voice dripped with sarcasm as he watched his party leader ascend the short flight of steps up the dais where the throne awaited.

  "That is Field Marshall Cayden Caros the Third." Celia chimed in with her best approximation of a posh British accent.

  "The fourth, actually." Cayden corrected.

  "Huh?"

  "Cayden C. Caros the Fourth." He explained. "I come from a long line of alliterative names."

  "You're joking." Silver replied, deadpan.

  "Am I?"

  The magi studied his face for several long moments. "I honestly can't tell." She frowned. "But I am going to find out."

  "No, you aren't." He replied sweetly.

  Before she could form a proper response, the doors at the far side of the throne room opened with a groan of ancient wood on even older hinges. A row of ten guardsmen flanked either side of a small gaggle of individuals, with Roberta at their head.

  They looked a mixed bunch. The lead pair wore earth tones, browns and beige clothing stained with soil and grime. He'd come across enough farmers in his time in Babel, hell, even his time back home, to be able to recognize their kind on sight. Behind them came a more well-dressed female, her clothing free of dust or damage. An aristocrat perhaps? Or something else?

  The older man who brought up the rear of the procession was so heavily armed that Cayden mistook him for a player at first. Only the vibrant, unnatural emerald of the man's eyes, staring out from beneath a loose shock of red hair, hinted at his true nature.

  In the few minutes they'd had to prepare, Roberta had given him a crash course on what to do, what to say, and how to act with his visitors, but he was already grating against the rules she'd laid down. He felt it was polite to rise to greet guests, but a man of his position was to remain seated and detached. He needed to speak crisply, formally, and most importantly, he needed to choose his words carefully.

  "Greetings, and well met." Cayden said once the trio had reached the foot of the dais, doing his best to adopt a tone of authority he most certainly did not feel. It had the intended effect on only one of the three petitioners, the farmers taking the customary knee while the latter two merely inclined their heads in greeting. "I have been informed that you have requested an audience."

  "Yes, M'lord." The lead pair said in unison, their heads still downcast.

  Now that they were closer, Cayden could see a distinct familial resemblance between the two, the younger of the two burly, tanned Elan the spitting image of his elder. Even their unique coloration, the crop of stark white hair atop their heads seemed to match, though the older man's was peppered with a handful of black strands. A son then, or perhaps a nephew?

  "Well I must say, it is nice to have visitors." He smiled despite Roberta's frown. "You've come to speak, so let us speak."

  "Yes, of course. Thank you."

  "Preferably with you standing," Cayden added. "I am as new to this as you are, but I don't think either of us wants me to be having a conversation with the tops of your heads."

  That much earned a laugh from the younger of the two, which in turn brought a sharp glance from his senior as the two returned to their feet. "Yes, you are right m'lord. We've come to-"

  "My Lord Marshall, if I may?" The well dressed woman interrupted the farmers mid-sentence, "I understand the brief delay in our audience, but surely our matter is more important than anything these two have to say."

  At Cayden's left, Silver raised an eyebrow. "And you are?"

  "Dame Gustava Bonaventura." The woman retorted plainly. "Though I am speaking to the Marshall, not to you."

  To her credit, Silver didn't snap back, despite the other woman's tone. If anything, she appeared bemused by the reply.

  Instead of engaging her, Cayden turned his attention to Roberta. "Which of the three arrived first?"

  "They are currently in the order of arrival. As per your request, Field Marshall."

  "Thank you, Roberta." He replied, turning his attention briefly back to Gustava. "If your issue was so pressing that you needed to be the first to speak with me, you should have arrived sooner." One hand raised to forestall her reply. "I will hear from them, then I will hear from you. Now, gentlemen, where were you?"

  The two exchanged looks before the older of the pair began again. "We've come on behalf of a group of nearby homesteads to request assistance securing our lands against local banditry."

  "How many do you represent?" he asked.

  "Forty-one farms in total, m'lord."

  "And how many bandits?" This time it was Michael who spoke, leaving the Elan struggling to look between one player and the other.

  "If my companions have questions, you may answer them," Cayden said with his most reassuring smile.

  The man nodded. "It is difficult to say, a few dozen at most, we believe."

  "Not exactly a challeng
e while we have an army at our backs," Celia remarked.

  "Assuming we don't just do it ourselves," Shifty added.

  Cayden wasn't convinced. "Our assistance is certainly a possibility." He said, watching a smile blossom on the elder man's face, only to falter as Cayden continued. "But I have to ask, why us?"

  "M'lord?"

  "You say there are forty farms, each has at least one able-bodied individual, no?" Cayden pressed. "So why not a militia to deal with the issue before now?"

  "It is as you say m'lord. The issue isn't combating them, it is finding them."

  "Which means patrols. And scouts." Silver mused, catching on to Cayden's concerns. "And time, which we have a limit of."

  "M'lord, you must-"

  "This isn't a no." Cayden interrupted. "You will be our guests here for the night. Once I've discussed the issue with my advisors, I will give you my answer." His attention turned to one of the nearby soldiers. "Escort them to one of the guest quarters, and send for Valserys to question them as soon as he is available."

  "O-of course M'lord. Thank you." The older man cast a scathing glance to the youth beside him for having tried to argue the point, then bowed at the waist. "Thank you for your hospitality."

  Cayden nodded to the two men, trying to contain the wince that threatened a twitch at his left eye. Silver was right, depending on the location of the farms and the amount of effort required to protect them, he might have to turn them down, even if helping them felt like the right thing to do in the moment.

  "Gustava, was it?" He asked then, turning his attention to the next pair in line as the farmers departed the throne room through a side door.

  "Dame Gustava Bonaventura." The uptight noblewoman replied with visible irritation.

  "Apologies, as I said,I'm rather new at this." His admission did nothing to mollify her. Indeed, she seemed somehow more irritated by it as he continued. "If there are some formalities I am unaware of, perhaps Roberta can arrange them before we-"

  She shook her head derisively. "No my lord, this will be sufficient."

  "Then how can we help you?"

  "The mine you recently purged, the one currently held by your troops. We would like it returned."