Mana Soul: Chapter 42 - The Foothold - Markus

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Travelling across the countryside quickly fell into a predictable rhythm of taking turns driving the A~W, brief stops to relieve bladders and bowels, and clandestine visits to small villages for supplies. As a result, it was not particularly surprising that everyone was in a much better mood once the rugged northland forests gave way to the rolling hills preceding the mountains of the border to the deadlands.

Arngier Castle could be seen from a long distance. Perched on the northern mountainside, Arngier had two sloping walls that encircled the castle itself and what was reportedly the broken remains of a small town that had once supplied the castle.

Still a day or more from the outermost wall, Markus could make out the poor state of the castle and its protective walls. Entire sections of the walls were missing, as though a giant bull had charged straight through them. Similarly, only one of the castle’s six towers was still fully intact, the other five having collapsed entirely or bearing large holes.

Markus had to admit that Peabody’s initially exhaustive estimates for repairing the castle might actually have been far more conservative than he realised at the time. It came as more than a small comfort that the resources for the supplies were reported to be available locally.

After going out of their way to avoid people on the road, it was a relief to complete the final leg of the journey in a far more straightforward manner. It was for the best because Markus could see wagon trains stretching out on the southern road headed towards the castle. Watching the wagons from the viewing panels, Markus was somewhat surprised by the amount of lumber being imported. Granted, the forests in the area were more sparse than in the northlands, but there were more than enough trees so far as he could tell.

Another curious addition to the wagon trains was the unmistakable presence of a disguised golem with each group. Wearing only cheap armour, the golems blended in quite well as caravan guards. Markus only noticed them because of their mana being detected by the viewing panels inside of the A~W.

The golems each made a point of looking straight at Markus in turn, their unwavering stares being oddly comforting under the circumstances.

Before reaching the walls, the winding road took them past large teams of workers harvesting prodigious volumes of clay from a long strip of land and loading it into the back of huge wagons. Just outside of the walls, even more people were processing the clay and shaping bricks under the supervision of more golems and a small team of artisans.

Passing through the somewhat repaired gate revealed long neat rows of large tents and even more people, although most were women and children. The residential tents were restricted to the south side and with the exception of a wide road and storage space for wagons and animals, the rest of the interior was a state of organised chaos.

The remains of the old buildings were being torn down, and deep trenches were being dug to accommodate future sewage lines. Or so Markus assumed. Everything he had read about Arngier did not seem adequate to prepare him for how large the town had once been. It made a sort of sense, considering the town and castle had once been a border fortress against the now extinct western kingdom. But just like that kingdom, Arngier had not fared well against the monsters spilling out of the uncontested dungeons.

Arngier was large enough to have contained tens of thousands of people, but now it was just rubble.

A team of ten golems Markus did not recognise, wearing much more expensive armour and weapons than those standing guard outside, stood guard by the gate to the inner bailey and castle proper.

A number of wooden houses had been built around the periphery, explaining one of the reasons for importing so much processed lumber.

Disembarking the A~W, Markus was a little worried by the fact that they had not seen any sign of Tina or her airboat, but took some comfort in the fact that if anything had happened the golem, Puck, would have alerted someone.

Before Markus had too much time to dwell on it, two small figures came running out of the largest building and were headed straight for him.

“Mister! Mister!” Arlee shrieked excitedly with Dolly running silently along behind her. Dressed in a blend of boys’ and girls’ clothes, the trousers certainly suited Arlee more than the dresses had.

Catching Arlee midleap, Markus grunted from the exertion as he threw her up into the air and caught her again. Returning Arlee’s fierce hug, Markus took a moment to catch his breath. “Arlee! I missed you!”

Arlee beamed and nearly broke one of his ribs with her prosthetic arm.

“Hello Arlee,” Aela ruffled the little girl’s hair and smiled.

“Arlee?!” Abigail came rushing out of the same large building Arlee and Dolly had just left, “Arlee?! Where-” her voice cut off abruptly as she noticed her daughter in Markus’s arms. Thoroughly relieved, Abigail took a moment to compose herself before approaching.

Meeting Abigail halfway, Markus handed Arlee off to her mother. “It is nice to see you again Ms Abigail,” he added apologetically, knowing that her daughter’s sudden disappearance would have been quite stressful for her, all things considered.

“It’s…No, I’m sorry,” Abigail apologised, “I shouldn’t have overreacted like that…”

“It’s fine, I get it…I…I was told what happened in Endem…I’m just glad you are both alright,” Markus insisted.

Abigail nodded slightly in agreement, “Me too.”

After taking some time to compose herself once more, Abigail led them all back to the large building. Given the state of the castle itself, the three story building was serving as living quarters for the more essential workers. Every piece of timber was enchanted and three golems were dedicated to guarding each floor. With the exception of the golem manufacturing workshop next door, it was the most fortified building in Arngier.

Rooms had already been set aside in preparation for their arrival, so it didn’t take long for everyone to get settled in. Although once they had, Aela was eager to remind Markus of his promise to her clan.

“I can smell them,” Aela insisted while staring out the window, “They must not be too far, a half-day on foot at most.”

Markus sat down on the large bed and then lay down with a satisfied groan. “I left a tablet with…” He took a moment to recall and reorient his brain for pronouncing the name correctly, “Yiva, the midwife. We can speak with her once we are sure we can house everyone without causing problems.”

Aela nodded despite seeming somewhat dissatisfied, “Better to be safe,” she agreed. The last thing they wanted was for the workers to form a mob. To say nothing of the fact that any fight would be entirely in the chimaeras’ favour, bloodshed or even low-grade conflicts would make long term cohabitation and cooperation far more difficult. Aela threw herself down onto the bed next to him and harrumphed disappointedly.

Markus did his best not to smile at Aela’s exaggerated show of impatience. Instead, he pulled her in closer and rested her head on his shoulder. Just lying there, Markus tried to burn the memory of this moment into his mind.

It only took Markus a few tries to get in contact with Yiva and explain the general situation.

Quite understanding of their minor exhaustion and desire to avoid conflict, Yiva promised to pass along word to Svala and any other clans who might arrive in the meantime. She also confirmed that Skadi and Aela’s siblings, Thyra and Beowulf, were safe and staying with the clan.

Peabody had spared little expense when it came to communication. Everyone of significance had a communication tablet. As a result, it didn’t take Peabody long to begin making arrangements for the Blood-Hunter clan’s arrival. The proliferation of communication tablets made a sort of sense considering Peabody had remained in Endem and still needed to organise events in Arngier. All the same, Markus still found the situation rather surreal.

With the clan expected to arrive sometime in the late morning, Markus decided to spend most of the evening calibrating the Guild’s dungeon detection enchantment. Unlike the Guild’s Artificers, Markus could differentiate Dungeon and true monsters’ mana signatures from those of chimaeras.

The original enchantment functioned similarly to a sense of smell, homing in on potential threats based on the amount of mana they released at any given moment. Obviously limited, the golems of the guild would only be sent when confirming the presence of a Dungeon, ignoring the smaller signatures as false readings or chimaeras.

Markus wanted to take the detection enchantment further. The visualisation variation of the enchantment could be made more efficient and more effective by copying and repurposing a design from Tina’s sketchbooks. She had called it a warning tower for ships. Borrowing heavily from Tina’s spotting light, only increased in scale and capable of rotating, the light was intended to warn ships of dangerous sections of coastline on dark stormy nights.

Borrowing the majority of the design, Markus wanted to have a tower built and mount a rotating set of lenses that would visually detect mana signatures and allow for a better-coordinated response against monsters and Dungeons alike. The artifice would be very mana-intensive in order to detect at the distance he wanted, but given their proximity to the deadlands, Markus decided it was certainly worth the upkeep. All the more so since he wasn’t sure when he could begin working on the artifice to attract and anchor dungeons to predetermined locations.

Attending dinner reminded Markus that he wanted to experiment with making wolfhounds as well. So he lodged a work order to the head foreman to work with Sven’s father Torvald to begin work building kennels and fencing off a section of the castle grounds. While he was at it, Markus let the head foreman know that he wanted to build at least one tower to house his Dungeon and monster detection artifice. Of the two, the head foreman was understandably much more interested in discussing the requirements for the latter than the former.

Settling in to sleep beside Aela, Markus fell asleep almost immediately. After being on the road for the better part of a week, the comfort afforded by a real bed was just too much to resist.

Waking up with Aela in his arms, Markus briefly considered procrastinating and staying in bed, but considering the number of lives at risk, he couldn’t justify it. With great reluctance, Markus shook Aela awake and then got himself dressed.

“I need to meet with the head foreman,” Markus explained while pulling on his boots, “Need to pick a good spot for a tower.”

Aela had heard some of his explanation to the head foreman the previous evening, so she nodded slowly in agreement. “Will you be gone long?”

Markus paused briefly to consider the nature of his task, “I don’t think so. A couple hours at most I would think. I should be done in time to welcome the clan.”

Aela nodded but seemed distracted.

“Hilda can keep you company while I am gone,” Markus reminded her, “And I am sure Arlee would like to spend time with you too.”

Aela gave Markus a wry smile, “I will try to keep them out of trouble,” she agreed and gave him a parting kiss on the cheek before getting changed.

Heading downstairs, Markus took a freshly baked roll off the table and waited for the head foreman. While an important man in the context of planning and organising the labour of the different work teams, the head foreman was not irreplaceable. As such, he was currently living in the tents like the other workers.

With Leona and Hector serving as his personal bodyguards, Markus followed the head foreman around the ruined town to survey possible locations for the tower. Deciding that the centre of the town would be the best location for the first tower, Markus ordered constructing the tower be given the top priority before leaving the head foreman to organise the build with one of the architects.

While surveying the ruined remains of the town, Markus had realised that he didn’t have to wait for the tower to be built in order to deploy the artifice. The castle was already built on a much higher elevation, and as such would afford the necessary viewing range to give advance warning of rogue monsters and any Dungeons that may open within a significant radius.

Informing Peabody of the materials and skilled labour he would need for the job, Markus made his way back to the castle courtyard to watch the early progress of the kennels. It didn’t take long for Aela, Hilda and Arlee to join him. Which of course meant Dolly was now tagging along as well, resulting in three golems now serving as their bodyguards.

“What’s kennels?” Arlee asked curiously while rocking back and forth on the newly erected fence.

“It is for keeping hounds in,” Hilda explained confidently.

“Hounds? What are hounds?” Arlee asked incredulously, narrowing her eyes suspiciously at Hilda in return.

“Dogs,” Markus interjected, “Hounds is another word for dogs.”

“Oh…” Arlee continued rocking back and forth for a few moments before suddenly growing quite still, whipping her head around to focus on Markus, “Will there be puppies?!” Arlee demanded excitedly, “Can I have one?!”

Hilda balked, “Er, wolfhounds is not best with children,” she warned, “Very protecting, but is also very angering. Other hounds better.”

“We will see, Arlee,” Markus hedged, still unsure what the results of his experiments with making a more complicated organism than a slime would reveal. Worst case, he figured he could always buy Arlee a real puppy.

“Really?!” Arlee grinned and revealed her missing teeth, “I’m gonna tell mama!” She crowded triumphantly and leapt off the fence, sprinting for the house with Dolly trailing a half step behind her.

“Wolfhounds are too dangerous for children!” Hilda scolded, “Even when playing, they are rough and could hurt her without meaning to!”

“That’s why I didn’t say I would get her a wolfhound,” Markus countered, “Southern nobles had all sorts of dogs. I can just get Arlee one of those.”

“Oh…” Hilda’s cheeks flushed with embarrassment.

“Did you want to come with us to formally greet Aela’s clan?” Markus asked.

“Are you really inviting the chimaeras to live in your land as your subjects?” Hilda asked curiously.

Markus nodded confidently, “Of course.”

“But why?” Hilda asked sincerely, “Isn’t sheltering them enough?”

Markus let out a wistful sigh and looked to the east, “Because they don’t have a place they belong, and I know what that feels like…”

Hilda nodded thoughtfully, “I really should have considered that,” she admitted apologetically.

Aela hugged Markus from behind and rested her head on his shoulder, apparently quite unfazed by Hilda’s curiosity, “This will be our home,” she promised.

Markus leaned back into the embrace and kissed Aela on the cheek before resting his forehead against hers.

After giving them some privacy, Hilda returned with Phillipe in tow, explaining that meeting with the chimaeras was also a part of his duties, which was technically correct. After her own social blunder, it seemed like Hilda was incredibly keen on Phillipe becoming more familiar with the Blood-Hunter’s customs. However, whether this was intended to better prepare Phillipe for mediating on the chimaeras behalf, or to help Hilda avoid another unintentional insult was anyone's guess.

Travelling through the town ruins as a group with Hector and Leona serving as bodyguards, they also made a point of wearing enough light armour. It was enough to protect themselves against a possible surprise appearance from Hilda’s enemies but not so much to overtly antagonise the chimaeras.

Choosing to forgo the road, the procession of chimaeras formed a ragged column all their own while dragging primitive sleds carrying their collective belongings. Leading the procession was Svala’s life-mate Magnus. His daughter Thyra was originally at his side, but she retreated back into the larger body of chimaeras once the procession drew close to the gates.

Leading the others outside of the gates, Markus motioned for the golems to halt traffic on the main road. It had been decided that the best way to avoid initial misunderstandings was to heavily limit contact until chimaeras could be put to work in an industry that would best exemplify their strengths and usefulness.

Magnus, accompanied by two chimaeras Markus didn’t recognise, approached Markus and his party, meeting them on relatively neutral ground.

“Markus,” Magnus bowed his head in deference but in such a way that his right eye kept sight of the group, warily lingering on the forms of Hector and Leona.

“Magnus,” Markus bowed his head slightly in return, “Let me introduce you to those you probably don’t know. This is Hilda, and her fiancé, promised, Phillipe. Phillipe will be responsible for managing relations with important figures. So if someone tries stirring up trouble, find a golem to pass along the message to Phillipe and he will take care of it.”

Philipe had been making an effort on learning the northern tongue while travelling to Arngier, but it was obvious that beyond recognising a few key words he still had a ways to go. “Greeting,” Phillipe bowed in the southern style, placing a hand over his heart and bowing at the waist.

“Greetings,” Hilda smirked slightly at Phillipe as she bowed her head slightly.

Magnus briefly inclined his head again before returning his attention to Markus, “Svala will want to speak with you. Your subordinate is welcome, but will not be an acceptable substitute.”

Hilda furrowed her brow slightly at that but otherwise said nothing.

Phillipe was diligently reading the contents of his tablet as one of the golems translated Magnus’s words.

“Svala will be further in the procession right?” Markus asked, “With Yiva, the children and other pregnant chimaeras right?”

Magnus tensed for a moment before nodding, his eyes staring accusingly at Aela for the briefest of moments before his expression became vaguely mocking again, “She is,” Magnus agreed.

“We’ll see her now then. Aela and Hector will accompany me, while Hilda, Phillipe and Leona lead the procession to the section of town set aside for your clan,” Markus dictated rather than suggested.

Leaving Magnus behind without waiting for an answer, Markus took Aela’s hand and walked into the currently immobile procession of chimaeras.

Making a point of smiling or waving at chimaeras he recognised, Markus was genuinely surprised by the amount of deference otherwise complete strangers were demonstrating towards him. As best Markus could figure, news of the fertility treatments had fully circulated throughout the clan now, and quite possibly been subject to embellishment.

Even once the greater procession began moving again, chimaeras in Markus and Aela’s immediate vicinity would halt, lower their sleds and bow their heads until Markus had passed.

“This is not quite the reception I had expected,” Markus whispered nervously.

“Really?” Aela asked in return, wearing a thoroughly bemused smile, “Then I think you are still drastically underestimating what you represent…”

Markus furrowed his brows, “What do you-”

“Hope, Markus,” Aela sighed and rested her hand on his far shoulder, “You represent hope.”

Markus felt a familiar and uncomfortable weight of responsibility settling on his shoulders.

The daycare and mobile maternity ward weren’t actually difficult to find. A large formation of sleds formed a makeshift barrier around a much larger central sled that carried the children and pregnant chimaeras. Adding to this already noticeable density in the overall procession, large numbers of chimaeras formed a living wall on either side of its position at all times.

Because they were approaching through the central line of the procession itself, Markus and Aela actually didn’t meet much resistance at all, although they were nearly barrelled over by Dustin when the chimaeras between them suddenly moved out of the way. Apparently responsible for hauling the large sled, Dustin was in something of a focused state and very nearly didn’t regain his senses in time to avoid barrelling them over.

Even with Dustin’s last-second attempts at arresting his momentum, Hector made sure Aela and Markus were removed from danger by bodily dragging them out of the way.

Appearing quite mortified, the mountain of muscle unstrapped his harness and hurried over to their side, “Are you hurt? Did you break any bones? I didn’t see you there-”

“We’re fine Dustin,” Aela huffed while shooing away the hulking chimaera’s ham sized fists from Markus, “We are here to see my mother.”

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Retracting his fingers as if he had burned them on live coals, Dustin nodded and abashedly began fitting himself back into the harness for the large sled.

“Dad! Why did we stop!” A familiar male voice called out in concern, “Mother wants us inside the walls as soon as possible! Remember?!”

Skirting around Dustin, Markus and Aela found the familiar faces of Mjoln, Yiva and Dustin’s son, as well as Skien, Skadi’s uncle, and Strida, Skadi’s mother. They were all bent over the back of the sled and pushing in an attempt to get it moving again.

“Sorry,” Markus apologised as Aela guided him onto a runner on the side of the sled.

“Markus!” Mjoln cried out in surprise, eliciting quieter but equally surprised reactions from the others.

The bundled furs of the interior soon erupted into life as around a dozen chimaera children came squirming out of the furs, revealing the recumbent sleeping forms of Svala and the other pregnant chimaeras.

Taking a moment to exchange greetings with everyone, Markus almost lost his footing as the sled suddenly lurched into motion again. Reluctantly, he accepted the offer to ride in the sled.

With Aela’s help, Markus managed to only half fall over the side into the bed of the sled. Not that it made much of a difference anyway. Since the moment he went over the side, the children were literally all over him.

“Behave,” the single quietly spoken word from the opposite side of the sled immediately caused the chimaera children to freeze and then scramble back under the furs. Able to see again, Markus gave Yiva a smile in gratitude. While she had been initially absent, Yiva was standing on the runners on the opposite side of the sled and grinning in amusement. “Word has spread of your marvellous toys,” she explained with no less amusement, “The expectations of your return have been quite high.”

Markus felt a little embarrassed and pulled down the hood of his padded coif to get some air. “There is actually a toymaker already settled in with us. I could ask him to design some toys for the children to play with,” Markus offered.

“I think the children would like that,” Yiva agreed graciously. A sentiment apparently shared by a number of yips, squeaks and squeals from beneath the furs.

“I will inform the tinker’s workshop,” Hector rumbled without needing to be asked. “Several crates of such items were brought from Endem in order to ease the transition of the children of indentured workers and registered settlers. A crate of existing stock has now been assigned a work order for enchantment to endure ‘aggressive’ play.”

“This is one of the golems the others have spoken of?” Yiva asked curiously.

Markus nodded, “This is Hector. The golem that saved mine and Aela’s lives from the giant.”

Yiva’s eyes grew wide in astonishment, “But it is so much smaller than the Guild golems.”

“That’s true,” Markus agreed, “But Hector and my other golems are much faster and capable of making decisions based on their assigned roles.” It was not strictly true, but he didn’t want to freak the midwife out over nothing. “If there are any problems, just contact a golem and they will make sure the message gets where it needs to go.”

Yiva stared appraisingly at Hector for a few moments before nodding in agreement, “I will do that,” she agreed.

“Is everything going alright with the pregnancies?” Markus asked with a mounting sense of worry. None of the pregnant chimaeras had made any significant signs of stirring since Markus and Aela’s arrival.

“Oh! Yes, everything is quite fine,” Yiva assured them, “Travel has not been particularly comfortable, so the expecting mothers have been hibernating through most of each day.”

After his own recent experiences travelling, Markus could understand the appeal of sleeping through as much of it as possible. “Would you be able to wake up Svala? We need to discuss how things will work in Arngier, so we can avoid potential misunderstandings.”

Yiva nodded in understanding, “One moment,” she climbed into the sled and crawled carefully over to Svala in the middle of the sled. Removing a small green leaf from a pouch on her waist, Yiva pinched it roughly between her fingers, releasing a faint scent of mint. Briefly waving the crushed leaf beneath Svala’s nose, Yiva then carefully extricated herself from the sled.

Svala’s nose twitched and her face contorted in disgust, “Foul…Mint…” Svala grumbled irritably and pawed at her face.

The other pregnant women mumbled similar sentiments but quickly settled back down again, apparently far enough from the initial fragrant burst to slip back into sleep.

“Mother,” Aela shoved her mother’s exposed knee with her foot, “Markus needs to speak with you. It’s important.”

Svala drowsily shifted her attention to Aela and blinked uncomprehendingly for a few moments before her eyes suddenly came into focus and locked onto Markus, “Markuss…” Slurring his name, it was apparent Svala was still in the process of waking up despite her appearance of alertness.

“I would wait a couple of minutes,” Yiva advised, “When leaving hibernation, instincts tend to come first.”

Recalling a number of times where Svala’s ‘instincts’ had resulted in his own injury, Markus involuntarily shied back into the corner.

Conversely, Aela leaned forwards, a barely audible guttural growl emanating from her throat.

Svala’s eyes narrowed in response, and she began curling her lip, baring her long sharp teeth. After a few moments, Svala began to relax, becoming markedly more aware of what was going on. “We have arrived at the castle?” She asked, visibly confused as she glanced to either side and confirmed they were still moving.

“Almost,” Aela replied, relaxing somewhat, “Markus needs to make sure you know the rules and will make sure everyone else follows them too.”

Svala nodded to show she understood and then shifted her attention to Markus.

Besides the basic laws regarding theft, violence and murder, Markus did his best to explain how the chimaeras were expected to behave and how they should expect to be treated in return. He also made a point of emphasising how any of the chimaeras could go about seeking help from the golems. Markus really emphasized this point because he wanted the chimaeras to not only be self-sufficient but earners for the colonisation effort. Making sure the chimaeras were able to engage in fair trade with the merchants was an important part of that.

What seized Svala’s interest was the offer for paid apprenticeships in different trades. Unpaid apprenticeships were also available from indentured tradesmen, but there would be limited positions available due to high numbers of interested applicants from amongst the masses of indentured workers already occupying those positions. The paid apprenticeships would be with tradesmen specifically brought to Arngier to help foster a more competitive economy.

Markus also gave Svala a basic rundown on how the identification chits worked, that credit could be used in the colony in place of, in addition to, or exchanged for, physical coinage. As such, the overwhelming majority of ‘in-house’ trading, and wages paid for services, would take place with credit. A golem-operated banking service was available for anyone wanting to exchange credit for physical coinage or exchange physical coins for credit. This service was mostly intended for use by visiting merchants, but colonists weren’t barred from using it.

“So you will actually let us work?” Svala asked, somewhat shocked and off-balance by the revelation.

“Of course,” Markus agreed. He wanted the chimaeras to earn their place and be seen doing it. The best way to dispel the superstitious bigotry would be to show everyone chimaeras’ true selves, warts and all.

“And if no one will hire us?” Svala countered sceptically.

“Then you are free to engage in the market and compete against them, if you wish to, or seek employment with someone else,” Markus replied, unfazed, “There is currently a shortage of draft animals, so I wouldn’t be surprised if your people are approached in the next few days to pull wagons, sleds and carts to deliver clay, bricks and other goods. Then there are the remains of the ruined town buildings. The head foreman would love to have workers like Mjoln to help demolish and remove the old buildings.“

“So…We would be treated like animals…Beasts of burden?” Svala didn’t seem particularly thrilled.

“If that’s what it takes to earn enough to learn a better paying job, or prove your value? Then yes,” Markus agreed. “You don’t have to do these jobs, I am just letting you know that they exist. If you have enough furs to trade, you could pay a mason to take you as an apprentice and learn the trade. Peabody needs loads of them for the fortification projects that are planned, so that’s just about guaranteed to pay quite well.”

Svala remained silent, thinking things over.

“And these bricks,” Yiva interjected, apparently having listened to everything thus far with quite an interest, “We can buy them to make our own houses?”

“Sort of,” Markus, shifted so he could see Yiva better, “If you have a mason qualification, then you could do it yourself. But if you don’t, then you would need a qualified mason to do it for you. After all, you don’t want the building collapsing and hurting someone.”

Yiva seemed surprised, “Houses made from bricks fall down on their own?”

Markus nodded sombrely, “Poorly built ones do…”

“What about wood?” Yiva asked curiously, “This needs a carpenter?”

“Ideally,” Markus replied with a nod, glad that Yiva was catching on.

“So, to make a nursery, I need a carpenter and a mason to make it from wood and bricks?” Yiva speculated.

“At a minimum,” Markus agreed happily, “And there is another person called an architect that can help you design the building so the mason and carpenter can work more efficiently. I was actually wanting to assign a work order to have a nursery built as a sort of welcoming gift.” He actually wanted it to serve as an example of the different jobs that would be available in the colony, and how much they paid. Markus didn’t doubt for a minute that the masons and carpenters would negotiate for the chimaeras to help out with hauling bricks and timber to the worksite in addition to any other general labour they could get away with. Most likely underpaying for the labour, it would still be much more than most of the chimaeras would otherwise expect for such simple and relatively safe work.

“Then you have our sincere thanks,” Yiva accepted graciously, “Especially given the anticipated new arrivals,” she added with a bleating chuckle.

Markus smiled and nodded in agreement. He didn’t doubt the chimaeras’ method for centrally caring for children would catch on with the indentured workers and colonists. With so much wealth able to be made by able-bodied adults, paying to have someone else take care of their children while they themselves worked, would allow for much more wealth to enter the household. Markus just hoped the chimaeras would have the good sense to properly compensate Yiva and her family for what the service was worth. He would hate for the caretakers to be priced out of the eventual fertility treatment market.

Markus settled in for the ride and focused his attention on another experiment he wanted to undertake in the very near future. Markus wanted to see whether harvested, unconverted monster mana could be used as a substitute for the mana drained directly from a dungeon core. If it could, then that would open up yet another harvesting method, and one that had a plentiful supply in their relative vicinity.

Briefly stopping at the gates, Markus and Aela used the opportunity to disembark and regroup with Phillipe and Hilda.

Seeing much more curiosity than overt hostility from the crowds of labourers waiting to get back to their work, Markus was inclined to take the day as a win.

Markus was concerned that the low rate of literacy amongst the chimaera would cause problems in finding work opportunities, so he made a mental note to have a golem stationed with the chimaera camp that would essentially serve as a crier for the job board. Thinking on the issue further, he decided to do the same for the indentured workers camp as well.

Similarly, with fluent bilinguancy being the exception rather than the norm, Markus also decided that making the tablets available for purchase or hire by the myriad of self-started companies would be a good step for helping the chimaeras integrate into the workforce.

Sending a written message to Leona, Markus ordered the golem to inconspicuously retrieve the short red-haired prisoner they had taken from the dungeon, and secure her in the room beside his own.

Intending to try and wake her later, Markus wanted to try and establish some precautionary measures first.

Wanting to give the chimaeras more time to settle in, Markus made sure to arrange for one of the golems to escort an available architect to Yiva so the nursery could be planned out, then headed back with Aela to their room. Spending the rest of the day working on his dungeon luring enchantment, Markus still made a point of taking frequent breaks to spend time with Aela and brainstorm solutions to potential problems that might arise when the Shadow-Maw clan arrived sometime in the next week.

Wanting to know more about the Shadow-Maw clan, Markus was disappointed that Aela had few answers to give. Besides their size - supposedly half again as large as the Blood-Hunter clan, having a number of relatives in the Blood-Hunter clan, such as Svala herself, and the fact that they were an exclusively wolf-blooded clan, there were only the typical rumours of cannibalism and child abduction.

Searching for more answers, Markus and Aela went looking for Svala.

Even though she was not in a particularly talkative mood, Svala agreed to elaborate somewhat on the character of the Shadow-Maw.

“You must understand that being pure-bred is an important element of their identity. It signifies unity, within and without,” Svala explained while slowly pacing around them, “In our clan, a poor choice in words or actions might anger a family, the same would potentially rouse every Shadow-Maw against you. However, the Shadow-Maw are incredibly loyal to anyone who earns their trust and respect, so I doubt they will cause you problems if you are generous with them as you have been with us.”

Markus had not intended on causing trouble, but it was still good to know. There was still something that bothered him though. “Pure-bred, will that cause problems with members of your clan?”

Svala shook her head, “There is, of course, a certain elitism to the status of being pure-bred, but this is only a factor when determining potential life-mates,” she explained somewhat dismissively.

“A pure-bred could bond with the child of a chief or chieftain,” Aela elaborated.

“And the clan is okay with that?” Markus asked curiously.

“It depends,” Svala hedged, “Pure-bred clans will never be happy about losing a pure-bred daughter. But a son? It happens…”

Markus shared a knowing look with Aela. Magnus was likely one such example of a pure-bred breaking pedigree, although Markus wasn’t nearly crass enough to ask Svala for a confirmation.

After returning to their lodgings and stationing Leona to keep watch inside of the prisoner’s room, Markus and Aela retired to bed.

Waking up early, Markus got dressed and then had Hector join him in the prisoner’s room.

“How are her mana levels?” Markus asked curiously, raising his tablet to see what the golems could already see.

“Slowly deteriorating, stable at ten per hundred,” Leona replied passively.

“Theoretical limit…Twenty per hundred…” Hector growled.

Markus nodded, “So not a monster, more like a chimaera, as I thought. And the tattoos?”

“Deliberate mana scarring,” Leona answered, sending a full body scan depicting the woman’s tattoos. “Demonstrates signs of leeching ambient mana from the vicinity and potentially slowing host deterioration.”

“Let’s test that then,” Markus pointed to the bedsheet covering the unconscious redhead, “Infuse mana into the sheet, but just enough to see what will happen.”

Hector complied, briefly touching the sheet before letting go.

A minute passed in complete silence.

“The medium shows no signs of deterioration…” Hector rumbled dispassionately.

“Hrm…” Markus scratched his head and tried to think, “Maybe it is the wrong kind of mana?” Thinking about it some more, Markus became convinced that it had to be the case. The mana-draining enchantment was intended to work on monsters, so it was possible that she could only drain monster mana in turn. “Leona, I need you to continue observing the prisoner-”

“Acknowledged,” Leona returned to the original position by the door.

“Hector, I need you to take a team of ten other golems and hunt down a monster. Drain its mana into these beads and then return,” Markus dropped the two remaining unmarked quartzite beads into Hector’s outstretched hand. “Make sure not to bring trouble back to the colony, and if it happens in spite of your efforts, make sure to give as much advance warning as possible.”

“I obey,” Hector rumbled and then purposefully left the room.

Markus followed Hector out of the room and heard Leona lock the door behind him. Satisfied, Markus returned to his room and waited for Aela to wake up. Once Aela was dressed and they had eaten a quick breakfast, they both made their way to the chimaeras’ camp. The golems would have already delivered the toys, but Markus figured Aela would still appreciate seeing the children playing with them.

Just like in the forest, the chimaeras had erected earthworks around the temporary nursery, so Markus and Aela had to pass by a bull-horned mountain of muscle that was likely one of Dustin and Yiva’s personal brood. All the same, they were only held up long enough for the chimaera to move the makeshift gate and allow them inside.

As Markus had expected, the children of the clan had all been kept together while the exterior barriers to the camp were still being built. They had also already gotten to the crate of toys and were animatedly playing with dolls, hard brightly-coloured leather balls, little toy wagons and a bunch of others besides.

“Do you think they would accept a golem to help keep an eye on the children?“ Markus asked, “One like Dolly I mean. It could help teach them to read and write-”

“And warn about early signs of trouble?” Aela guessed shrewdly.

Markus smiled wryly and nodded, “That too…”

Aela considered it while watching the children play, “I think Yiva could convince them,” she agreed.

“But only if they don’t know what a golem Dolly’s size is capable of, right?” Markus sighed, wondering if the deception would be worth the peace of mind.

“No,” Aela shook her head, “The golem’s violence when protecting Arlee would be seen as good, not bad. The fact that you trust your own daughter with Dolly is already very convincing.”

Markus chuckled as he was forced to admit his thinking had been a little off. Chimaeras had very different standards than humans when it came to who or what could be trusted around their children. Dolly being a little murder machine would be seen as a plus, so long as its aggression was directed exclusively towards adults.

“Should probably have the toys’ durability enchantments linked to the recharge network too,” Markus mused, pointing to one of the colourful balls that was in the process of being disembowelled.

“Probably,” Aela agreed with a grin, “I’ll go find Yiva.”

“Alright,” Markus was more than happy to avoid Svala for the time being, and since Yiva was the one taking care of all the pregnant women, he was perfectly content to remain outside.

“Hi…” A quiet voice squeaked from the other side of the fence.

Looking down, Markus saw a small girl with wide deer-like eyes and fuzzy ears that twitched nervously.

“Can play now?” The little girl asked, holding tight to a small plush bear and staring up at Markus with teary pleading eyes.

Recognising the little girl from when he had last played with the children, Markus looked over to the crate of toys and those already being played with by other children. With conversion slimes already in use in the human camp, there was a decent excess of mana currently being generated. With that in mind, Markus figured he could enchant some toys to help entertain the kids.

“Alright,” Markus agreed and carefully climbed over the fence. Given that none of the caretakers stopped him, Markus figured he had at least conditional permission for the time being.

Like a lamb that had wandered into a den of wolves, Markus immediately became the centre of attention, the children suddenly growing very still and quiet. Then, all at once, as a single cohesive pack, they pounced.

“HEY!” One of the caretakers snarled from the other side of the fence.

Just like that, the children froze and then scattered, all except for the little deer-girl who just hid behind Markus.

When the caretaker came closer, Markus was somewhat relieved to see it was Mjoln. “Some balls on you,” Mjoln chuckled, “Jumping straight into the pen.”

Markus shrugged and grinned sheepishly, “They wanted to play, so I was going to enchant the toys so they won’t break so easily...Or quickly.”

Mjoln didn’t seem to quite follow, but nodded his big bull-like head all the same, “Probably be best I joined you then,” he rumbled, easily scaling the fence in one smooth practiced motion.

“Probably,” Markus agreed with amusement as the children scattered again, screaming and laughing as they ran to hide behind large stumps, logs and stones that formed a small obstacle course. “Are they always like this?” Markus asked curiously while approaching one of the discarded toys.

“When they aren’t teething? Sure,” Mjoln agreed conversationally.

“Teething?” That brought Markus up short.

“Sure,” Mjoln agreed, “They get very…bitey, when their teeth hurt or new ones grow in. That’s what the old toys are for,” he pointed to a pile of crude wooden toys bearing marks Markus now realised were the result of small sharp teeth.

Rummaging through the crate, Markus pulled out a furry mouse looking toy and tied off a protection bead from his pocket. He then made a few quick scratches to allow for a conditional repeating enchantment. Injecting just a little mana, Markus connected it to the primary recharge crystal currently located in the workers camp before tossing it to one of the hiding children.

Even though the toy mouse fell short, the child leapt at it the moment it touched the ground, pushing it into their mouth and then jackknifing their head back and forth to try and shake the life out of it. Each time the child applied pressure to the mouse, it would release a quiet squeaking noise not dissimilar to a mouse.

“Like that you mean?” Markus asked, more than a little amused.

“Sort of,” Mjoln agreed, “Although not nearly so gentle.”

“Right…” Markus chuckled nervously, tying a string around the little deer-girl’s bear to activate the durability enchantment before handing it back to her.

“Feels warm,” the little girl cooed, hugging the bear tight.

Quickly checking the enchantments, Markus realised he had made a mistake and used the wrong bead. Given how much the girl liked the warmth of the bear, Markus just added the durability enchantment as best he could manage without marking the bead.

Making sure to check the rest of the beads first, Markus got to work altering them as needed and applying them to more toys. By the time Yiva and Aela returned, he was confident that at least a third of the toys might survive the day.

“Will you really give us a golem to help watch over the children?” Yiva asked somewhat curiously.

“If you will accept it,” Markus agreed, “Aela’s told me things, stories of what happened, well…It will just be a load off my mind.”

Aela glanced at Yiva but said nothing.

“Is there any sort of preference?” Markus asked, “Mr Fabien is quite talented and could probably make it look like a chimaera if you prefer.”

“Why’s that?” Yiva asked.

Markus shrugged, “Just thought you might prefer it is all,” he gingerly scratched the deer-girl behind the ears and smiled as she giggled, squirmed and leaned into his hand.

Yiva and Mjoln’s indifferent shrugs were all the confirmation Markus needed. Thinking the children would probably enjoy terrorising a golem of Dolly’s stature, he sent a work order to Fabien and his wife Irene.

Sitting with the little deer-girl, Markus watched Aela chase the children around the play area while a small group of the more timid children took to playing by him instead. Aela’s preference for chasing any of the larger rowdier kids that drew close served as something of a buffer.

What Markus found most interesting was that it wasn’t the children with the most overtly hostile or predatory appearance that was most involved in Aela’s game, but it was certainly true of the older kids. Markus would have liked to think on it further, but he was interrupted by a persistent chiming from his tablet.

Checking the messages, Markus felt his blood run cold. Hector had found the monsters as requested but defied Markus’s orders on grounds of new information. A panoramic black and white view of the forested hills to the west was inundated with crimson sparks and a small crimson tear in the side of a hill.