We acted as planned. I made the staves for the students, hired them, and set to work on developing the Saegalla district, as the new region was called. The new citizens didn’t come to Windemere proper. They were meant to become the population of this new district. The students would work in four six-hours turns with teams of thirty-five (the limit of my leadership) under my guidance. Without much need to sleep, I intended to keep working day and night. I wanted to see this done. But first, the students needed to get ready to depart.
While they learned the spells and prepared for the long time away from the city, I spent a month flying over the area of the new wall, using my magic to create a solid foundation of bedrock, a hundred meters deep and with the stone-floating rods. Even if someone dug underneath the massive foundations, the wall would still remain in place. Talking to the local inhabitants, we deepened our understanding of the floods. The water would indeed flow precipitously into Rabet as our wall would work as a giant levee. Even back in the XXI century, Earth levees were a problem. Rich communities would raise theirs higher than the poor neighbors, and the flood would devastate the poor, making them even poorer. It happened in Missouri because their neighbors in Illinois raised their levees too much.
The cause of the flood was the great lunar conjunction, the same Sariandi used to turn Lily into a were-jaguar. Vester, Sylvis, and Ayla, the three moons reached their nearest apsis relative to the planet at the same time, causing a series of effects. Great tides, monster floods, bad weather, river floods, the reset of the cooldown on my {Last Chance} reviving Perk, and several others. It also caused the most fucking awesome night sky one could dream of. The blue, green, and silver moons shining in the sky, as big as family-sized neon beach balls. Funny enough, the moons rarely eclipsed each other and never on this auspicious conjunction.
Imitating what Tokio did to prevent floods in the Japanese capital, I carved giant drains connected to massive underground tunnels that would take in the excess floodwater above a certain limit and dump it back sixty kilometers closer to the Uroko Gulf in a special discharge channel. The reservoir resembled the mines of Moria and would be an Arena-style Dungeon. A great team of Adventurers would face off against increasing difficult monster hordes from a vast selection. They could leave after a wave, resetting the challenge. The discharge tunnel was full of Dungeon traps and undead animal monsters. On top of that, it was clearly labeled as off-limits. Anyone brave or stupid enough to travel there would find only woes and no treasure for their trouble. Undead animals had no useful loot as Windemere painfully learned.
The Dungeon city and the road connecting to Rabet were the first to rise from the ground. We needed them because the influx of people from the south only grew after news of our stunt in Rabet spread. With the aid of the students, we built the reservoir, wall, and bridge, then the Dungeon city all with stone taken from the nearby mountains. The city was created entirely out of stone, each building without a single seam. Wide streets, sewers, and careful planning marked the Saegalla district as a modern (for Yznarian standards) example of magical architecture.
In the months we spent doing that, Proficiency gains were focused only on [Leadership]. I got a single point of [Spellcaster] because of {Self-Teaching}.
Leadership [ 383 / 383 ]. Select 2 Abilities
* Condensed Syllabus I: Each four hours of teaching is worth (Proficiency/50) additional hours.
* Inspiring Leader: Add (Proficiency/5) to your Charisma to determine Loyalty.
Another month for the road, made entirely of stone slabs shaped by magic. With the way literally paved for both people and goods, it was time to finish the wall. It started from the gulf and traveled southeast toward the mountains to join with the section already up at the mouth of river Windemere. While the students shaped the stone, I enchanted each section of the wall. Two hundred and fifty runes on the inside of each thirty-meter segment, filled with magical mortar that contained crushed Magic Cores. It made the wall almost impossible to damage or climb as well as making it self-repairing and bolstering Tabard wielders defending the wall.
As the two major population centers appeared seemingly out of nowhere, we started to settle the refugees and migrants leasing the property from the Crown. If they kept the same place for ten years, they would receive ownership of their homes. Since they weren’t the owners, they couldn’t sell the homes and shops they leased. It would stop the gentrification of the city as foreign and domestic merchants and other wealthy individuals attempted to gain control of the new settlements. A warning from either the Matriarch priests, one of Kazuyran’s subordinates, or, in one specific case, myself, was enough to dissuade them from further attempts.
I didn’t need to kill anyone this time. We were making progress. With the people settled, I felt the area come under the effect of my {Shrine Guardian} Perk. Windemere’s claim over the region was confirmed by the System. I thought it was due to the political identity of the citizens living there. They believed to be part of Windemere and so they were.
We laid roads inside the new region, connecting the settlements. On the shores of the Uroko, Port Lorna appeared. The harbor had a horseshoe-shaped breakwater that stopped ships from moving however they wanted. It had tall towers of solid stone on each end of the horseshoe upon which defenders could harass enemy vessels attempting to attack the harbor.
Before we started on the north wall, we went back to Windemere, the capital. I guess it was too late to change the city name. There the students helped me build the sewers and the vertical shaft that would dump refuse into the Dungeon. I placed dozens of new enchantments on the shaft, from traps that would attack monsters attempting to reach the surface to levitating platforms that would keep people from falling inside no matter if they were alive or dead. The reason was simple. I didn’t want any murderer using the shaft to dump bodies. In Windemere, murder was exclusive to the law enforcement agencies.
Speaking of law enforcement, Mirina created the Jaguar Guard. This police force would act in the open, consolidating the local guard in each city and putting them under a centralized command. It undermined the power of local governors because they couldn’t give direct orders to the guards. It was another layer of protection against corruption. Along with a proper police force we also created prisons. Lesser felonies and misdemeanors carried a hefty fine and would put people behind bars for a few months on the first offense, leading to exile on the second. Meeting one of Kazuyran’s agents was reserved only for heinous crimes like rape, murder, or if someone attempted to get back in the country after the exile.
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The priesthood swelled with hundreds of new [Priests]. I changed the setup of the Priest Perks, adding another Perk to the first rank. I paid the increased cost to give the new Perk to the older [Priests].
> * Rank 0: Animal Affinity (rare) and Educator (rare)
> * Rank 1: Spin Silk (rare) and Animal Magic Affinity (rare)
> * Rank 2: N/A
> * Rank 3: N/A
> * Rank 4: N/A
>
> Total cost: 50,000 GP per priest.
>
> Educator (rare): You gain [Educator] as a Proficiency. This Proficiency levels only with your [Priest] levels. This perk is not [Transient] and cannot be turned off.
With their new Perk, the Priests set to teach the citizens about civics and the changes to the government we wanted to enact. City governors and councilors would be elected by suffrage but only those that passed the test of a subordinate Tabard could vote. Universal suffrage was impossible with our current technology as we lacked a proper census or control of who was a citizen and who was not. Not to mention the fact that electoral fraud was damn easy with magic. We would watch this social experiment for a few years before creating a parliament and reducing the power of the crown. I was still unsure if we would keep a Royal family or not but the image of a King or Queen was so ingrained that I feared the Prime Minister of this new parliament would have delusions of grandeur.
Only time would tell if Torgo’s last shout of defiance was true or not.
A year passed, I celebrated another birthday. Another ten points of fast-growth scattered across my Proficiencies. The students that helped me build Saegalla were replaced by another team, this time bigger because my Proficiency grew to accommodate larger teams. One hundred and fifty-two mages.
They renovated the capital, replacing the wattle-and-daub buildings with stone. I kept the exterior architecture characteristic of that medieval method of construction using lighter and darker stone. Pockets of air trapped in the walls helped with insulation without compromising the structure. Streets were renovated and widened, the city that grew without planning breathed anew. And breathe it did. We connected the new buildings with the sewer, stopping people from dumping their chamber pots out in the streets. The new houses had a restroom and running water.
Another year of nonstop work. Another team of students, this time for Rosebush, Dublone, and Narmont. I worked with a vengeance to keep my mind from drifting to the place my heart longed to return to. Wyxnos didn’t give me a single hint as to when he’d return Lorna to me.
I left the northern wall for last because our relationship with Leondirac wasn’t the best. They probably had their sights on Saegalla or some other shit. What I knew was that they were threatening military action. The fools wanted us to surrender Saegalla to them. We let Vanagon and Julia negotiate with them but things escalated. Not even the threat of collecting the money [Prince] Isengar owed me dissuaded them. Much less the tales of the al-Mi’raj army or the dragon, which they dismissed as fairy tales.
That’s how Lorna and I agreed to meet their ambassadors out in the field. The two of us came alone, without any escorts. It was unnecessary. We reached their camp and were escorted into the ambassador’s tent. More like the general’s. [Queen] and (surrogate) Goddess entered fearlessly.
I knew this negotiation was stillborn because an angel told me the day before the meeting. As the patron Goddess of several species and two countries, every soul of these species or one of the citizens in these nations was brought to me by the invisible (to mortals) angels. I usually didn’t even regard them but I kept an eye on each and every soul that came to me, in case someone I knew showed up. To my surprise, yesterday marked Isengar’s untimely meeting with the reaper. I asked him the cause of death. Beheading. The perpetrator. His own father’s executioner.
We sat across the table from Leondirac’s ambassador, a level 178 [Warlord General].
“Greetings,” he grinned wickedly. “And my thanks for agreeing to meet us. We hope we can solve this peacefully.”
His gaze could bore a hole in my forehead.
“We too wish to solve this peacefully,” Mirina said with a neutral tone that betrayed nothing. “The people living in this land are all Windemere citizens. Our claim stands.”
He didn’t meet the [Queen]’s eyes. Quite rude. Instead, the general nodded to an aide-de-camp and the squire brought a hefty coin bag to the table.
“This is one of three gifts the [King] decided to bestow for your troubles. One hundred and fifty Kingmetal coins.”
As he let go of the bag, I stored it in my item box remotely. “I’m curious,” I said. “What is the second one?”
He reached under the table and produced an ornate cubic box about a foot on each side. Still grinning like a 1960’s movie villain, he removed the lid and pulled the contents by the hair. I already knew what it was the moment the box came open. While {Titan Skin} couldn’t look inside closed containers, once open it was fair game.
It was Isengar’s head. I smiled and glanced up. As the ghost met my gaze, I winked at him. With my attention on the [General], I cooed. “To me? Aww, now I have a full set.” With a piece of his body secured, I intended to raise him.
“Now, we have a treaty for you to sign, Your Majesty. It will grant us control of Saegalla and the port city.”
The squire placed a scroll and a stick of red wax next to Mirina. The queen read the treaty, then picked it up. Instead of the wax, she put the parchment over the candles. It burned nicely. The [General] slammed the table.
“We have another copy. Make sure to not commit the same mistake,” He growled.
Why this guy thought he could intimidate us was beyond my reckoning. Despite my growing annoyance, Mirina kept her cool.
“Why should I sign this treaty? I see no benefits for Windemere.”
“We have two hundred thousand mercenaries ready to march into this beautiful countryside. And they are veterans in the second and third ranks, not the conscript rabble Sadian sent north. Unless you want war, pretty girl, you’ll press your gold ring on the treaty.”
The signet was only bathed in gold. It would be too soft otherwise.
“I think not. If you want to fight, [General], be my guest. Your troops will suffer the same fate as any that dare attack Windemere.”
With that, she stood up. I too got on my feet and checked to see if they’d try to stop us from leaving. The [General] met my gaze.
“Well, if it serves as an incentive, we have a few prisoners we are willing to release if you agree to the treaty.”
I didn’t like where the conversation was headed into.
“Entertain me, [General],” Mirina was full of feigned mirth. “Who are these prisoners?”
He pointed at me. “[Prince] Euric of Ekar and this foxy lady’s father.”
Helger. Damn, how did they kidnap Helger under my nose? I shivered. All my conscious mind could think of was sheltering Mirina inside the toughest Force barrier I could muster.
Then the world before me burned.