Duchy Unleashed

by Zack Finley

  We practiced with the same guys on the oars until they were really doing well. I had them move to allow the guys in the middle to get some practice. I had half of the new guys on starboard and half to port. I had Argon spell me on the rudder, and I took one of the oar slots.

  By mid-afternoon, both boat crews were exhausted. I had them all return to the dock. Jaloa’s lack of a moon meant there were no tides to worry about.

  Cleon and Capt. Malek planned to use grapples and a boarding net to get our guys from the ship’s boats onto the pirate ship. The pirates would have countermeasures against them, but I didn’t have a better solution. Capt. Malek said we might have to disable the pirate’s sails to have any chance of boarding them. Malek said any slaves would probably be kept below decks in irons. Holing or burning the ship’s hull would have dire consequences for them.

  Once the ship was disabled, I felt our best bet was an area-of-effect stun blast. That should get us on board without casualties. We could then gather intel and rescue any captives. After we fixed the sail, we could add another ship to our fleet.

  While I was tempted to toss all the pirates overboard, both Cleon and Malek responded badly to that. Apparently, we needed to execute them first. I didn’t know how to deal with captives who hadn’t committed capital crimes. The Duchy didn’t have any prisons, and I didn’t intend to waste resources on taking care of bad people. I also didn’t want to set them ashore to prey on other innocent people. I suspected I’d need to figure this out sometime. Leaving them on an uninhabited island was an attractive alternative. I just hadn’t found a suitable island.

  Cleon called the guard together for another rowing session. I suggested setting up a series of buoys to challenge their navigation and pick up the rowing pace.

  Erik appointed leaders for each boat, and they set off to sharpen their skills. I still felt uneasy that no one had a life jacket, but was informed it was a bad idea. Bobbing around on the surface guaranteed you’d attract fish who might not just eat the individual but would probably attack the boat. Malek assured me the teleport spell was our people’s best chance if they fell or were knocked overboard.

  We’d take the boats beyond the breakwater tomorrow and see how the troops did with wind and waves as a factor. Malek said there were a lot fewer fish on the open ocean than there were near our docks. Once the Malan returned to the Keep, the guard would be bolstered by the Malan’s sailors, and they’d attempt to board the other ship.

  Argon was distracted during the boating sessions. She attended to her duties but remained focused on whatever discussion was going on in her head. I didn’t pry, but that didn’t mean I wasn’t curious.

  I asked the com hub to send a basas cart to the docks. While Erik was putting his two boats through their paces on one side, I’d do some fishing on the other. It took a few minutes to begin hauling in a catch. At first, I’d spot, then stun a fish. Some floated to the surface where I grabbed them with force magic and tossed them into the cart. That technique proved unreliable. The fish refused to hang around in view.

  Remembering Malek’s warning about agitating the surface, I used air magic to act like a person struggling on the surface. This created a frenzy and made it easy to stun scores of fish at once. Enough floated to the surface that I had the cart full in no time. Any stunned fish I failed to grab immediately was gobbled up by bigger fish.

  Argon split her time between watching Erik’s boat crews and my fishing exploits.

  I sent the cart full of fish to Perga and hoped the farmers would find them useful. There were a lot of fish in the waters around our docks.

  I told Cleon we were going back to the Keep HQ but would meet back up with the guard for our late afternoon conditioning. Argon and I trotted up the spiral ramp of the port warehouses. Argon kept nudging me to loosen up, and I tried not to be so stiff legged. She exaggerated her running form and urged me to mimic her. I ended up running more at a lope than a trot.

  “Imagine you have springs for your legs,” Argon said emphasizing her words with actions.

  I felt ridiculous but doggedly kept at it, trying to match Argon hop for hop. Argon eased into a jog, and I fell in beside her, still matching stride for stride. She sped up when we got to the flat. I’d gotten into a rhythm by then and ran with her. My breathing was easier, and I felt loose. I pushed the pace, and before long we were running flat out. Argon wasn’t pulling ahead.

  We ran all the way to the Keep HQ. I’m not sure exactly what changes I made in the way my body moved, but it felt easier. Still not natural but oddly not as tiring.

  “Loma and Inoa want to talk with us as soon as Tobron and Cleon are free. They have some ideas for arming our guard for the pirate assaults. They want to have prototypes together before Capt. Malek arrives tomorrow,” Argon sent. “We’ll let you know when we are ready.”

  Argon peeled off to find out how the Losan group was settling in. I jogged on to see how Perga dealt with the fish. I passed the empty fish wagon leaving the area just as I arrived at the entrance to the farming area. There were many more people milling around than I had ever seen before.

  Maude’s house seemed to be farming central. Whatever dissonance previously keeping the farmers away had clearly dissipated. Besides checking with Perga about the fish, I wanted to see how the herder, his family, and their herd of jarma were adjusting.

  I spotted Yarl and flagged her down. “Did you find the fish helpful?” I asked. “Should I send any more?”

  “I think they were much appreciated, but you’d have to check with Perga or Maude about whether they’d prefer manure. Maude can tell which fields prefer the fish,” Yarl answered, anxious to get back to the errand she was on.

  “Where can I find them?” I asked.

  “They are with the jarma right now. Maude is discussing the ground rules with the jarma,” Yarl said, before waving goodbye and jogging away.

  I let her go and resumed jogging through the main wall to the ranch house.

  I caught up with Perga at the entrance to the jarma ranch. Maude was in the paddock with the jarma. Troughs lining one side of the paddock were already filled with something I suspected was jarma food. Troughs on another side were filled with water. All the jarma were crowding around Maude, her apprentice Jestn, and two Jaloans I hadn’t met.

  “Are the Losan farmers getting settled?” I asked Perga.

  “Oh yes, they are thrilled to see we have a master plant whisperer serving the Keep,” said Perga. “They are surprised no one used that to recruit other farmers to join us.”

  “What is Maude doing now?” I asked.

  “Just letting the jarma know the boundaries. Before Maude reached us, several jarma attempted to eat some of the food not planted for jarma. I doubt that will happen again.” Perga assured me. “They are very satisfied with the plantings we have prepared for them. Most of the females agreed to have pups, so we should see a substantial increase in the flock. They have demanded we bring in more breeding stock before next season. We have let Ellte know. These are from Klee, I expect they will find Augun jarma to be very suitable.”

  “Were the fish of any use?” I asked.

  “Oh yes, thank you for sending them. If you can provide several wagons each day, that would boost production, especially within the dome. Ellte has several shiploads of manure coming, but the fish provide many necessary micronutrients normally provided by vermin. There have been no vermin inside the dome for decades.”

  “Jord, have mind mages practice their stuns on fish off the dock. We need two or three wagon loads of fish for our gardens daily until the fish become scarce. Send the wagons of fish to Perga, he’ll distribute them,” I sent. “Let Ellte know.”

  I knew how hard it was to practice stuns without a living opponent. This should help the training move along. Jord was in charge of all training. Part of the curriculum required all mage apprentices to practice stun and paralyze defensive spells every day. We found that few young mages had even capped out on their min
d magic and had never tried force magic in combat. We were trying to ensure all our mages could protect themselves or if necessary the Keep.

  “We’ll get you some fish each day, at least until they get scarce near the docks,” I told Perga before releasing him to get back to whatever Maude had him doing.

  I checked on the progress of the wall and volunteered to work on it until late afternoon physical training. At the current rate, the new outer wall around the farming area would be complete in a few days.

  It was a good thing I asked the com hub to remind me or I’d have missed the physical training session. As it was, I only avoided being late by teleporting in. Argon arrived slightly early, but at a dead run. Gera teleported in, seconds later.

  Erik knew the ranks were tired, but he showed no mercy. Two full circuits of the Keep at a steady run followed by several times through the obstacle course. Despite my new appreciation for my body, it was only sheer stubbornness that kept me going. I was glad Erik didn’t double up the last circuit of the Keep walls and merely ran us hard for three-quarters of the distance before letting us cool off during the remaining distance at a jog.

  When it was over, and we were walking to dinner, I felt better. “Was I just as stiff or was I using the springs in my legs more?” I asked Argon.

  “Better, but only marginally,” she answered sending a clip of my running to me. “You still run stiff-legged. It gets more obvious as you tire. That is when it should be easiest.”

  I began to exaggerate the motion she thought I should be emulating.

  “That is actually better than what you were doing,” Argon said. “Try exaggerating it at training tomorrow morning.”

  “Gera was really wiped,” I said.

  “Yes, he has skipped too many conditioning classes. He is paying for it now,” said Argon. “Let’s hurry up, Loma and Inoa really want to talk with us.”

  When we got to the food court, I couldn’t believe the change since this morning. Clive’s crew not assigned to the wall must have worked non-stop, clearing out rooms on the ground floor to expand the court. There were now two serving lines and a lot of stone seats and tables. The tavern hadn’t been moved, but the seating area had expanded around it.

  We got in line and were served swiftly. I got a Virn’s homebrew to drink, but Argon settled for some chilled fruit juice. We were among the first seated at the director’s table, joining Marfo and Jord.

  Today, Marfo was worrying about shortages of cloth and leather as she juggled the logistics of supply for our growing Keep. I suggested she consider a modest operation at the Keep, so we weren’t totally dependent upon Augun’s recovery. We couldn’t import anything in bulk from the east side until we solved the transportation problem. Something else to discuss with Capt. Malek at some point.

  While I chatted mainly with Marfo, Argon and Jord were having a lively discussion about Findot. Jord had agreed to help Argon find a long-term assignment for the opinionated, stubborn, antisocial, but talented mage. Findot was now serving a term in the com hub. There had been some minor problems when she started the assignment, but these had smoothed out as the com hub group of mages got to know her. Findot and Ellte had bonded in some way, and Findot was helping Ellte in her off hours. Argon was pleased.

  I was pleased that Argon was pleased. I just hoped Findot didn’t torment Ellte the way Findot had bothered my mate.

  In dribs and drabs, the rest of the directors arrived. By mutual agreement, we avoided sensitive topics, but there was plenty of other information to share. Cleon and Alba were the last directors to join the table. Only Capt. Malek and Jorvik were absent. Capt. Malek had returned to the Malan and Jorvik was still in transit. There were plenty of general topics for the rest of us to discuss, allowing Cleon and Alba to eat without rushing.

  Once they were done, Tobron had us move to the new director’s room. Clive’s crew had built the new one when expanding the main dining area wiped out the old one.

  Tobron summarized the upcoming operations.

  He reminded everyone that Jorvik and his armorers were arriving tomorrow. They were due in just before the Malan was expected. The Malan had a lot of their gear as well as metal bars and a variety of ores. Once the armorers were settled, they’d bring their families and retainers. Tobron didn’t think they’d be in a position to support our attack on the pirates.

  Once Capt. Malek arrived several of his sailors would join the Duchy Guard to train on boarding operations. Tobron asked Inoa, Argon, Cleon, and Loma to remain behind to discuss last minute details. The Malan was expected to depart for pirate duty the day after tomorrow.

  Clive wanted to complete the agricultural wall before the Malan left, so that was where his whole crew would be until they finished that project.

  Ellte’s plan to transport local fresh foods in refrigerated storage had already started. The last piece to fall into place was the dedicated shuttle ship. Once Capt. Malek verified the seaworthiness of the shuttle ship’s modifications and crew, Tobron estimated we should see the first shipments in two or three days. I was assured the crew would be Duchy citizens.

  Inoa said we had more applications to join the Duchy than we could absorb over the next months. She wanted all the directors to apprise her of any immediate needs as well as long term requirements. This would allow her to prioritize our additions.

  I told her my first priority were battlemages. Even untrained mages with an interest in battle magic and retired battlemages would be welcome.

  Argon announced she wanted us to begin bringing in orphans. Argon’s announcement surprised and silenced the group. “I know we have a lot of things to do,” Argon said. “But the orphanages are overflowing, and younglings are living and dying on the streets of Klee, Losan, Augun, Ylee, and Kavil. I want to provide a safe alternative for younglings. The orphanages are so overcrowded, even they aren’t decent places for younglings to be. Some of our young families might be happy to welcome an older youngling into their home to assist on the farm, at the forge, or at the stable.” Argon paused to let people absorb the concept. I knew it had taken our team by surprise. My only surprise was that it had taken her this long to bring it up.

  “I endorse Argon’s request,” I said. “I suspect we will need to provide a boarding school environment for most of our orphans. We just don’t have enough couples for what Argon has in mind. Tobron, I’d like you to bring all the orphans from institutions in Augun, Klee, and Losan within a month. The only caveat is we cannot take younglings who are fundamentally without honor into our Keep. Like our adults, they must pass a mental screening. We cannot accept bullies and hardened criminals.”

  When Argon started to protest, I held my hand up. “We cannot save everyone,” I sent. “When we open up room in the orphanages, perhaps they can get help there.”

  “Alba, please contact the orphanages and let us know about how many we are talking about bringing into our Keep and what we may need to do to adopt the younglings,” Tobron said. “Once we know how many and typical ages, we can consider recruiting more caregivers and teachers. Plus, the rest of the logistical issues.”

  “Loma, how is our sigil effort going?” Tobron asked, getting the meeting back on track.

  “Everyone that is going on the pirate operation, except for the Malan crew, has a sigil and the new mind shields. We now have a routine procedure that provides the sigil and new mind shield as part of the Duchy oath. Everyone who arrived at the Keep today was taken care of. Everyone who has duty outside of the Keep walls has been fixed, including the guard, barnta and basas wranglers, farmers, foresters and Clive’s crew. We will be working steadily to make sure everyone in the Keep is tuned up, but it will take several more days. We are also considering modifications to youngling sigils to limit their ability to leave the safety of the Keep.”

  Marfo added, “The com hub is still working through the increased communications traffic and the maintenance of workgroup channels. This will be a work in progress for some time.”

/>   “I think that is everything for now,” Tobron said. “We need to finalize the planning for our pirate operation.” Everyone not on the invitation list left quickly.

  Inoa wasted no time, “I have looked at the stun wands provided to the Klee King’s Guard by the mage guild. We can make much better ones. They should make capturing pirate vessels dead easy if we supply our guard with them.”

  “We can supply all of the guards with crystal belts for their wands. Depending on how fancy you want to get, the wand can have a selector for paralyze, shield, stun, earth, fire, water, or air magic. While that may be a good idea for future missions, it would require too much training for this operation,” said Loma. “I think giving them a mind crystal to power a stun wand would be a better choice. Simple is good.”

  “I actually think we should provide each guard with a simple force shield, too. If we set it on standby mode and trigger it fully on command or if something tries to pierce the standby mode then it should have enough charge. The only other concern I have is that stunning doesn’t work on the undead. It should work well against pirates and critters, but not so much against the undead,” Inoa said.

  “We plan to equip the Malan and the four long boats with batteries. I’m thinking a front-facing shield and some kind of large wand on the front to shoot fire, rocks, or some big stun spell,” Loma said. “It can also charge up individual belts if we want them to.”

  “If we add a magic water nozzle under the stern, it can boost the speed of the boats,” I added. “If we incorporate it in the tiller it can increase maneuverability, too.”

  “What do you mean?” Loma asked.

  “If we can continuously conjure water to speed through a pipe it will push the boat forward. You can steer independently of it.” I decided not to suggest mounting the nozzle to the tiller. We didn’t need to risk anyone’s lives today. Twin rudders and double nozzles might be a better long-term design. I’d have to talk with a boat designer. For now, just mounting a pipe along the keel would have to do. “We should add water to the wand, that way it could help put out any fires.”