The next few days had a certain sense of militant normalcy to them. The news coming in from the Buffer States wasn't good; no matter how valiantly the dwarven military fought, they just kept getting pushed back under an unending tide of green bodies. Refugees came pouring into the Empire as dwarven warriors sent their civilian families away from the ever-encroaching front lines.

There was an underworld gate in Fort Steilan, so our area had a big influx of refugees. The Emperor was calling up the army and local reserves to help get thousands of dwarven refugees resettled, while fortifying the area around the underworld gate into a massive kill zone.

But regardless of all that, despite the imminent danger, there was this feel of "we need to carry on with our lives" pervading everything. The Emperor was on FV every evening, urging calm, exhorting everyone to trust in the strength and training of the Army. It might have even been pretty reassuring, if I hadn't just seen such a vivid illustration of how horde vs. army combat turns out. We still went to work, went out and bought groceries, went to the bank, to the gym, to bars and dance clubs, and so on. The whole thing had a certain surreal sense to it, like "why are we even doing all this, pretending everything's normal, with a freaking horde of goblins at our doorstep?"

But what else could we do? There were dozens of underworld gates in the Empire, at least one for every kingdom, more for most. All of them were at risk; it wasn't like there was some safe place the kith of the Empire could flee to, the way the dwarves were fleeing to us. There were some who had family or landholdings in other nations, and the money to get out on short notice, who retreated there, but that wasn't an option for the majority of us so we just tried our best to carry on with our lives.

Thursday night at church, Esott Daniels began by speaking of the devastation of war, yet his sermon was one of hope. "Just look at how many times the heroes of the Codices are told to 'fear not,'" he said, going over various examples. "And just as they were told, today I say to you also, fear not! Evil comes upon us, to conquer and destroy, but we know that when it threatens the world, heroes have always arisen to oppose it. And indeed, have we not seen in our own day, in our own duchy, the rise of Sir Zephyr right as a hero was needed? Who can doubt that he will defend us against the horde? I say to you all, fear not!"

Ouch. I could doubt that, for a couple different reasons that he knew nothing about.

"And likewise, have we not seen the strength of our congregation in the recent work on Brother Webb's land? Our paladins protected the crew against repeated monster attacks, even slaying several of them, both bringing safety and earning food for those in need. Again we see, our god protects and provides for those who follow the Path. Fear not!

"I was a young man when I founded this church. I was driven by sacred words of Guidance, directing me to build up a bulwark against the growing Evil that was to come. Today, as an old man, I finally see the rise of the Evil I was warned against in my youth. But I also see our congregation is strong, our crew is strong. We are prepared, and we will weather the oncoming storm even if it means building a literal bulwark. So fear not!"

Well, that was really something. I couldn't help but wonder, though, whether my sneaking suspicion about where "a literal bulwark" would end up getting built was correct. It seemed like so many things were happening to me that were well outside of my control.

A thought of Gareth came to my mind, when he explained his interpretation of destiny and free will, that destiny is only the natural result of the application of free will over time. And I realized, as I thought back over what he had said, that in the example he had given, it was not my destiny that my will established, but that of someone else.

Whose choices had set me on this path I seemed to be trapped on now? The Esott's? Felicity's grandmother's? Some goblin overlord's? Too many things were coming together all at once, and it was kind of difficult to take.

I sought out Esott Daniels in his office after the meeting. "Do you have a minute?"

He looked up from his desk at me. "Certainly. Come in, what's on your mind?"

I stepped inside and took a seat. "I just couldn't help but wonder. The bit about building a literal bulwark, is that an actual plan, or just a comment?"

"It's not a plan exactly, but it's an idea that my mind has been returning to again and again lately. You've seen the reports, I assume? It's a simple matter of numbers. The army doesn't likely have the forces to hold at Fort Steilan, and if the goblins breach through from there, half of Chitothia will be overrun within a week.

"Modern cities are soft targets, built for convenience, for ease of travel, ease of commerce and of pleasure. They're not meant to be defended. The Netherworld hordes will pour through, killing and enslaving at their own whim. But a small group in an obscure location, hidden away from the world, that would have a strong chance to survive. To thrive, and to rebuild."

"You're talking about my 'obscure location.'"

"Of course. Is that not the Guidance you were given? To build up House Webb as our bulwark? If you are willing, your land is easily our best chance to make it through the difficult times ahead."

"If I'm willing. Esott, it's starting to feel more and more like I don't have a choice."

"There are always choices. Even a slave can choose to obey, or to rebel. What you are saying is that there are no easy choices, nothing that brings you the outcome you want."

I nodded.

"So what is the outcome you want?"

"It's... I don't know if it's even possible," I said with a sigh.

"You want the world to go back to normal."

"Basically, yeah. Do you know about Thaxil's tower?"

"The great layering of needs and desires? Yes, I'm familiar with it."

"I'm used to living pretty high up on the tower. We all are, really! We've built a society that cares for the foundational layers remarkably well, enabling us to freely pursue higher goals. And now it feels like whole thing is about to be demolished. According to Thaxil's theory, safety from threats such as war is the very lowest floor of the tower, the foundation that all else is built upon."

Stolen story; please report.

"Have you considered a different possibility?" he asked.

"What do you mean?"

"If the tower's foundations can fail so easily, doesn't that suggest that our society does not in fact care well for it?"

"It's been centuries since we've had to worry about war."

He nodded. "Instead, the citizens of the Empire have turned to the pursuit of prosperity, with new philosophies and new technologies, building up a wealthy, decadent society."

"You say that like it's a bad thing."

"Isn't it a bad thing, to live in a house with crumbling foundations? The root of the word 'decadent' is not 'luxury,' Brother Webb, but rather 'decay.' It originally referred to the state of the nobles living in a crumbling kingdom, too lost in their lives of luxury to notice everything falling to ruin around them. That so many kith have taken to using the word unironically as a simple synonym for luxury and indulgence is about as damning an indictment of the spirit of our day as linguistics can offer."

"And you think you can do better?"

"I think we can. A small community, hidden from prying eyes, united in a common goal and a common faith."

"I'm not sure. 'Fortress' and 'hidden' don't go particularly well together."

"In a place no one goes, not easily visible from the highway and — as it turns out — quite conveniently away from any air routes? Surrounded by tall trees for a mile or more in every direction?"

I shook my head. "Esott, hiding something is the worst way to keep it safe. In my line of work, the word 'obscurity' is a term of derision, a bad joke. Like, 'oh, of course they got pierced if they're relying on obscurity for their security!'"

"I agree. And yet it's better than nothing. That which can't be found can't come under attack. Obscurity alone is trash-tier protection, but as a first line of defense, to buy time to build something stronger?"

"Fair enough. Do we have the time? And the money and resources?"

"Money is only useful to buy resources and labor, and I fear it's losing some of that value lately. There are reports of panic buying going on, and it's likely to only get worse with time. What we have are talents. There are enough trained wizards among the congregation to raise up walls of stone from bedrock. The land has timber in abundance, and we have woodworkers among our number. A walled, fortified compound is definitely possible to build. We'd sacrifice a good deal of comfort, particularly at the outset, but it would be enough to rebuild, as you put it, the foundation of the tower."

"And food and water?"

"A forest can't grow like that without good supplies of groundwater. It shouldn't be particularly difficult to dig a well. As for food, I've preached preparedness to the congregation for decades. Those who listen, who live their faith, will have supplies built up, reserves stored against a time of need. Between that and hunting for meat, we'll have enough to see us through until we can plant and harvest."

"You've really thought this through."

"I suspected you'd come asking questions soon enough."

"How can we schedule this? We don't have too many weekends left."

"Leave that to me. I'll have crews out there every evening."

Well, at least some good might come of my betrayal of Gareth, since now no one was going to run across him now and end up asking awkward questions.

"Including tonight? The sun's already gone down"

He shook his head. "Tonight it's too late. But beginning tomorrow, yes."

I looked him in the eyes. "I really hope we're going to get this right."

"Then hold to that hope, and to your faith."

* * *

Friday after work I was on my way out to the site, when I got some texts from Joanna.

Hey, wanna hang out tonight?

Brad? You there?

Starting to worry...

Sorry, I was driving. Can't get

together unless you're up for some

manual labor.

What's going on?

I didn't even hesitate. If this was supposed to be saving people's lives, I definitely wanted to include Joanna!

Church project. We're building a

refuge, just in case the worst

happens.

Wow, seriously?

Literally, yes. We're taking the

invasion *very* seriously.

...wow.

Hey. If everything goes to the

Abyss, I'll make sure we can take

you in even though you're not

Meþasite.

Wow, I'm not sure what to say.

I know. It surprised me too. But

you've kept me safe in the dungeon

enough times. It's the least I

can do to return the favor.

Thanks. I'll think about it.

That left me a bit nervous, hoping I hadn't said something wrong or freaked her out. I was the first to arrive at my lot, so I stayed in my car until half a dozen other members showed up, including Charles and Felicity and a group of wizards. The seven of us drove off to the building site and began to prepare build a Ritual of Stone Shaping, to raise up walls to surround the area. Charles and Felicity could have joined in, contributing mana despite not being arcane casters, but they didn't, just patrolling the area instead.

Reaching down through over a hundred feet of soil to pull up stone walls was not easy, but the drain divided five ways would make it significantly more manageable. We drew out plans in illusory lines for where to place the fortress walls, a double-wall design with an inner and outer wall five feet thick each, with five feet between them for earthen or gravel fill, plus round marks for turrets at each corner. Once the lines were laid out, the five of us stood together, chanting the Words of Unity, letting our power flow out in threads that we weaved together into a braided cord. When the ritual power was prepared, I took control of it and formed it into a spell of Stone Shaping, sending the power down into the earth.

As the ground began to tremble slightly under our feet, earth slowly being shaken and displaced by the stone extruding upwards, I heard a shout coming from the forest, followed by a loud clash of something hard striking against a shield. The five of us looked at each other and quickly released the ritual, running towards the noise to see what was going on.

What we found shocked everyone, and me most of all: Charles and Felicity, their armor glowing brightly as they fought frantically to defend themselves against the aggression of Gareth Meranas.

"Is that Sir Zephyr?" Sister Richards asked, stepping back nervously at the sight of the two paladins slowly yielding ground to a superior opponent.

This was probably a really dumb idea, but I stepped forward. I was the one he wanted, afterall. "Leave them alone!" I called out, letting power collect in my hands.

Gareth looked over at me. "Brad?" He quickly stepped back, disengaging from the two beleaguered paladins.

"You know Sir Zephyr?" I wasn't sure who had said that, but it definitely wasn't good.

"Then you are friends?" Gareth asked.

Charles and Felicity nodded, raising the visors of their helmets to let him see their faces. "Why did you attack us?" Felicity asked.

He planted his spear point-down in the ground. "My apologies, Felicity, Charles. Three days ago, I was accosted here by a group of six paladins wearing the same armor as you. Their leader was a mage, the angel you warned me of. I know not how he tracked me to here."

He didn't know.

"Can someone please explain what's going on?" Sister Richards asked, stepping up to me. "How do you all know each other?"

Well crap. I took a deep breath. "This is Gareth, the man they call Sir Zephyr on the news. He's been hiding out here to take refuge from the Archduke's men. Gareth, everyone with me is from church. We're friends; we don't know anything about an attack on you; we're simply trying to raise some stone walls and fortify this place, to take refuge from the oncoming Netherworld horde. Can we talk about what happened to you later?" Without so many newcomers around? I hoped he'd understand the unspoken question.

Gareth looked aggravated, but he nodded. "Very well. Build your walls, but we must speak later."

Ugh, this was the last thing I needed.