To whom it may concern,
I’ve never seen a place quite as alien as these mountains. The Dwarves live subterranean lives where even light is considered a luxury, and traverse the tunnels of these anthills with all the familiarity of rabbits navigating a warren. Their machines are especially wondrous to behold - decades beyond what we in the south would be capable of. These little men have even found a way to harness the power of lightning itself.
Their war machines, too, are splendid. One would need more than a lifetime to understand the sheer complexity of some of these contraptions. The Dwarves have a penchant for size when it comes to expressions of might - a trend that extends to their preference for weaponry and armour. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that they’re well-prepared to flatten any sort of siege.
Roland and I have made contact with Baccharum, who at the very least seems quite comfortable in his lovely office the Dwarves so generously provided to him. We’re hoping that the influence he’s drummed up with the government may give us a few chances to weaken the mountains from within, but I fear that the majority of the effort is going to be resting on your shoulders, Lieze.
-Marché
“It sounds like preparations are already underway.” Lieze muttered, “I’m interested in learning what sorts of strategies the Dwarves have in store for us.”
“I wonder what Marché means by ‘the power of lightning’...” Drayya leaned into her to catch a glimpse of the letter, “Does he mean there are contraptions manipulated using magic?”
“During my studies, I found a number of tomes that went into great detail about the application of lightning spells on the living.” Lieze replied, “The muscles violently contract whenever a body is electrified, causing spasms and seizures. Those theories referred to the application of ‘electricity’ and its potential uses. Predictions were made that, with enough innovation and time, it could very well come to eclipse the likes of oil in its practical usage.”
Drayya smirked and exhaled pompously from her nostrils, “Like that would ever happen. Without oil, there would be no fire, no light, and no frying. If we started focusing on this ‘electricity’, then what’s going to light our lanterns and cook our meals at night? What do these so-called ‘innovators’ hope to accomplish besides trying to reinvent the wheel every few decades?”
“Lightning does start fires. You have to admit that much.” Lieze answered, “And its properties are rather interesting. When exposed to certain metals, for example, it’s capable of conducting its electrifying properties through solid objects. In that way, it actually has some rather interesting applications that aren’t quite possible with oil.”
Drayya’s hand fell upon her shoulder, bringing the rant to an end. Her face was pressing up against the window of the coach.
“We’re here.” She said.
Lieze leaned over to gaze through the window. She saw the fleurs and curls of Saptra’s bizarre architecture before she had even entered the city walls. Clock towers, spires, and centuries-old cathedrals pierced the skyline like enormous grave markers, each of them with their own distinct aesthetic style - remnants of Saptra’s former independence from the Sovereign Cities.
Lieze had never been ambitious enough to stray into one of Tonberg’s siblings during her war with the city. The Order had already paid a violent visit to each, stripping them of life in preparation to bring the fight to Ricta himself. Despite his death, Sokalar’s influence remained in the animated husks shambling through those once-prosperous streets.
A number of Skeletal Necromancers had already been sent ahead to clear a path to the city’s dock, which spanned the eastern stretch of the sprawl. The remnants of Sokalar’s thralls remained under his undying command, carrying out the last order they’d been given well over a handful of months ago - to kill any intruders foolish enough to enter the city.
Lieze’s subordinates had been chewing into those disobedient thralls ever since the conquering of Tonberg, and for the most part, Saptra was now safe to roam. She didn’t want to cull the city’s population entirely, understanding the worth of leaving a few undead roaming the streets in case she ever needed to replenish her ranks.
The stagecoach was being reigned by a Gravewalker ascended through the use of [Greater Intelligence], smart enough to keep a pair of skeletal horses in line but incapable of much else. Skeletal Necromancers flanked the coach with a small portion of Lieze’s army, the rest of whom had already departed to assemble themselves at the docks.
Lieze and Drayya hopped down from the coach as soon as they passed through the dilapidated city gates, which had been sieged long ago by the Order when it was still under Sokalar’s command. For the first time in months, Lieze experienced a change of scenery from Tonberg, though the stagnant air poisoned with the stench of rotting flesh wasn’t much more tolerable.
Following in the wake of the army, they crossed through the city’s wealthy southern market towards the ancient streets of the dockyard, from which the entire city had first expanded over the course of decades. Lieze caught the unfamiliar scent of the ocean in the air, and realised that, beyond illustrations in the pages of her tomes, it was her first time witnessing the sea with her own eyes.
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The gulls were persistent creatures, stubbornly surviving even in the face of undead dominion. They swooped down upon the backs of Gravewalkers to peck and tear at their diseased flesh, then fluttered away before the thralls could grab them. Lieze and Drayya ducked into the alleyways hidden between butchers and fishmongers to emerge onto the salt-stung wooden walkway of the dock, witnessing the jagged tides of the sea spanning all the way to the distant horizon.
“You never came this way when we were taking Saptra, did you?” Drayya asked.
“I wasn’t allowed into any city before Tonberg, if you’ll recall.” Lieze’s hidden expression of wonder quickly turned to annoyance, “I was forced to wait outside for days until the screams finally stopped, sleeping in the mud and busying myself with spotting faces in the clouds.”
Drayya’s smile faded away, “...Sorry.”
“No… I’m not cross with you.” She shook her head, “Being here just reminds me of how things used to be. There’s nothing I dislike more than recalling how weak I really was.”
She resisted the urge to yank her hand away when Drayya reached out to intertwine their fingers. It was always a warning that she was about to say something unbecoming of a necromancer.
“If it’s your weakness that upsets you, then I’m to blame for that as well.” Drayya confessed, “Myself, Sokalar - everyone in the Order bar Lüngen… all we could ever perceive was the girl who had no right to call herself the daughter of a Lich or a member of the Deathguards. But what else was born from our hatred besides loathing? The more I think about it, the more hurtful it becomes, and the more I realise that the person you are today was sculpted by our abuse.”
Lieze sighed, “I don’t blame you for that anymore.”
“You have no idea how much it means to hear you say that.” Drayya suppressed a smile, “-But it’s not true, is it? I don’t want it to be true if that’s not what you want. No matter how far your ‘forgiveness’ stretches, it can’t turn back time. Everyone played a part in it, but I’m just as guilty of stealing away your life as anyone else.”
There was infallible truth to be found in those words. Lieze wanted to place the business behind her, but it wasn’t something she would ever forget. She had simply cast Drayya’s abuse into the abyss of time, hurtful only in retrospect, but hurtful nonetheless.
Having diverted her gaze the whole conversation, Lieze turned towards Drayya with uncertainty painted across her features, “...How do I fix that?”
“I don’t know…” Drayya was forced to admit her true feelings, “It’s not something that can ever be fixed, I think. Perhaps that’s what it means to be traumatised. It can only be ignored, or shoved away, until it takes root in the heart and blooms like a terrible flower.”
“Trauma…” Lieze repeated, “I’m not sure I like that word.”
“Because it makes you sound weak?”
She didn’t respond.
“You don’t have to hold it in around me.” Drayya tightened her grip on Lieze’s hand, “Punish me with tears, if you like. It’s only natural that I share in your burden. Wouldn’t you say that’s the least I deserve?”
Lieze lowered her head in consideration. A quaint idea of salvation was budding in her mind - one that found itself dismissed just as quickly, “You wouldn’t be interested in what I have to say.”
“See? You’re just teasing me now, implying that you do want to talk but trying to pretend like it isn’t worthwhile.” She smiled, “A topic doesn’t have to interest me. Just the sound of your voice is enough to keep my attention.”
“You don’t have to phrase it in such a strange way.”
“There’s nothing strange about it! I mean everything I say.” Drayya chirped, “If this is ‘strange’, then I want to be worse than strange. Doesn’t that sound exciting?”
Her other arm came to slink around Lieze’s waist, but the girl stepped to the side before the conversation could continue. Drayya was disappointed, but not at all saddened by the expression, especially following Lieze’s reply.
“There’s too much to focus on at the moment.” She said, “We still need to scout the docks for a seaworthy vessel, find some way of captaining said vessel without the risk of death, plan a route around the border, and secure enough provisions to last us the whole journey.”
“You’ve always got to make the mood difficult, don’t you?” Drayya placed both hands on her hips, “I’m starting to think you might enjoy it.”
“If you want to talk, then talk on the voyage.” Lieze replied, “I want you to round up supplies. Not only food and clean water, but equipment as well. Cloth to repair the sails if need be, tools, nails, navigational equipment - everything you can possibly find. I can’t imagine that it will be too difficult in a city built next to the sea.”
“-And I suppose you and Lüngen will be looking for the largest galleon with the most cannons?” Drayya tilted her head, “That sounds far more interesting. Why can’t I come along? The rest of the cultists can handle supplies.”
“First of all, we’re not looking for the largest boat.” Lieze turned her gaze towards the water, where a number of rowboats and fishing vessels were bobbing up and down on the surface, “We’re doing this so that we can approach the Dwarven Mountains stealthily. A galleon could be spotted by any old Dwarf from miles away. We’ll take a clipper - one of those fast merchant boats.”
“Boring!” Drayya exclaimed, “Supremely boring! No cannons!? Are you mad!?”
“What are we going to be using cannons on, exactly?” Lieze folded her arms, “Bear in mind that our enemies are possessed of not a single seafaring vessel, and spend most of their time holed up in the safety of landlocked mountains.”
“What if we get attacked by a Sea Serpent!? A Kraken!?”
“We don’t live in a fairytale, so I think that excludes us from being bothered by mythical creatures of the deep.”
“What if I just want to fire a cannon, Lieze? Is that too much to ask?” Drayya dropped all suggestions of practicality and pivoted to her own enjoyment as a primary motivator.
“It is.” She nodded, “Now get to work.”