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Leo
Elaria was helping Leo out of bed while Allis did the same for Glia, and the four of them made their way up to the inn's dining area to continue waiting for the architect.
Leo may have overexerted himself with way too much yesterday, because he fought a dragon and became mentally exhausted from a bunch of revelations and constant arguments. So ending the day with a pleasurable evening with Glia may have been a little too much for his body to handle.
Elaria seemed to have a self satisfied expression plastered across her face ever since laying sight on the both of them, and was more than willing to assist in their relocation, but Allis seemed a little disappointed that she missed out on such activities.
‘Next time Allis, and definitely without the venom.’ He mentally noted to himself with a sigh.
When he got comfortable at one of the tables, he felt the all too familiar gazes of lust directed toward him. Looking around he noticed that the stares were back with a vengeance, all because he forgot to cast a sound barrier on the room. After last night with no sound barrier, as well as a few people that were spying, not even him being known as a mage was going to deter people from running wild with their imaginations.
‘The staff idea was nice while it lasted…’ He thought as he opened his sketchbook to further clean up the rune system for his rifle.
After a few hours of everyone chatting among themselves, mostly about each other and the rebels in town, Fel entered the inn. She was wearing her not too breathable looking cloak as she walked over to their table. “So my morning could have gone better…” She remarked exhaustedly.
He closed and put away his sketchbook, while double checking the sound barrier before he spoke. “Did something happen at the base?”
His summoner sighed heavily. “I explained the full situation to the major, and she was less than pleased. I believe her exact words were, doesn't matter if it's the military or a rebellion, the higherups will always find a way to fuck me with a pissing contest. She also brought up a few other problems that you now have to resolve.” She finished pointedly.
The rightly obstinate human grimaced, remembering the threat Yez made. “Let me guess, supplies, since Yez has such a beating heart for the cause.” He disliked losing out on a potential ally, but being treated like a game piece on someone else's board was not going to fly with him.
“She does care, but she's a control freak, and even though we dragons are very self aware of our tendency for being stubborn, it's only in regards to certain traits or beliefs. And yes, it's about supplies. The army needs about fifty gold a month to-”
A small thud of chiming metal interrupted the dragoness, the recently windfallen lord having tossed a bag full of gold coins onto the table in front of her. “There's a hundred. Go nuts.” He remarked bluntly.
Her hooded head darted between him and the bag before pocketing it. “Well that was easier than I thought. Yez used to only feed us some silver and goods every week.” She said with a small chuckle.
“And that's just another reason why I am actually the superior option.” He teased with a smug expression.
“Yet to be seen…” Fel huffed, though he somehow knew that she was very much enjoying the change in leadership. “Which brings me to our next problem, support. We had an entire web of informants from in and around Selaria, but most of that has now been cut, and only a few of the most committed are probably still in contact.”
Spy networks were the definition of sketchy, but they were plenty useful in getting a feel for current or potential opposition. “Okay, then have the people that are still with us try to build back up those connections again. The only reason we lost them is because of trust, so it's going to take some time to regain that, but they will most likely come to us once they see we're worth a damn to work with.”
Fel nodded, and Leo could feel a sort of approval from her without any indication of such, he just sort of knew. “The last problem we have is not an immediate one, but we need to start thinking about expansion. Yez always spoon fed us what to do, giving us a general idea and working out the details slowly, so we don't know what to do after the academy's attack.”
‘Yeah…my long term plans kinda got fucked as well, and now I'm stuck on a collision course with the people who control the kingdom. I can easily deal with the inquisitors, fuck that's still a stupid name, but if they send an actual army it might draw the councils attention if I send them all packing my self. Escalation breeds more escalation… Gonna have to finish up my rifle, but I would like to use something less lethal. I don't want to kill or permanently wound future subjects because that doesn't make a happy population… Stun rifles maybe? Wait, getting off track. She said expansion, I don't want to take over by force, or even take over to begin with… Unfortunately, the town is already mine, wait! Maybe I don't have to give up on my previous plan!’
A cunning smile crossed his face. “Hey, Fel. Do you know what a city state is?”
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Elaria
As Leo finished explaining the concept of a city state, everyone at the table looked at him with a mixture of shock and disbelief, because Leo would be establishing himself as a king.
Elaria was especially shocked, since she would end up being a queen. ‘I don't think I could handle that…’ She thought worriedly, her gut churning at the prospect of certain relatives finding out.
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“So you want to be a king…” Allis said what everyone was thinking.
The crazy human looked appalled at the remark. “Hell no! But it's the most efficient way to get Selaria to back off after the academy attacks. They wouldn't want to waste the effort on a border town with little strategic gain, especially one that manages to repel a squad of mages. It shows that we may have the strength to back up our claims. Also, I'm not going to be taking the position, because I'd rather not have a big shiny target on my back, nor do I want to deal with all the politics and management associated with it. So I'll need to find someone willing and trustworthy to bestow that lovely role to, preferably a selarin.” He finished explaining with a tired tone, causing Elaria to breathe a sigh of relief.
‘Oh thank the gods…’
“So you're going to be a Queenmaker.” Fel remarked skeptically with crossed arms.
He stared blankly at the cloaked woman, and Elaria mentally added queenmaker to his list of titles. “Uh huh… Bottom line is that I can continue with my previous plan, just with a few alterations.” He remarked while casually brushing aside the weight of the task.
Allis cocked her head and went on to curiously ask. “The revolution, right? Don't you need to finish the designs for the enchanted weapon for that?”
“Since I already have the beginnings of a city state, I don't need to think about trying to change all of Selaria by force. Now I can just proceed with growing Telnar into a center of power all on its own, so it can influence surrounding territories economically and politically, and that's going to take some time in of itself. So the weapon is going to be a side project until after the academy is dealt with, because I don't know if they would be willing to send an army.” He explained with a shrug.
Fel looked between Allis and Leo. “Revolution? Enchanted weapons? What are you talking about?”
The forgetful man facepalmed, likely realizing that she wouldn't know because of his sound spell. “Right, I need to fill you in on my plans as well as my world.” He paused to let out a resigned sigh. “So basically everything... At least I won't be doing anything else for today, because this is going to take a while.”
Glia chuckled. “That's a relief, because I still don't know what the fucks going on.” She remarked in amusement.
Elaria couldn't help but bark a laugh. “Trust me Glia, It's not much different at the front of the line.”
‘But at least things seemed to have calmed down.’
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Rak
Rak was leaning back in his chair, waiting in his office while bored out of his mind as he missed his old posting. It may have been a lot of work, much of it unneeded, but at least he took pleasure in it. Now he had absolutely nothing to do, because he was reassigned due to excessive involvement and souring the image of dragons.
“All the power at my fingertips, and I'm stuck guarding some useless insect hill…” The man sighed sadly while continuing to sulk, until there was a knock at the door.
“Come in, it's not like I'm particularly busy…” He stated indifferently.
The headmaster and recent arch mage of the academy walked in with a smile on their face, much to his irritation.
The dragon gave the mage a cursory glance before returning his attention to the much more interesting ceiling. “What do you want, bug?” He questioned irritably, not caring what any of the lesser beings title themselves, because they were all equally insignificant in his eyes.
The headmaster's expression faltered a bit. “Well, we received word of an uprising in one of our border towns, and I thought that you might be interested in joining us.” She remarked with high spirits.
Rak rolled his eyes, something like that being beneath him. “A few dozen peasants with pitchforks isn't even enough of an appetizer to sate my boredom, much less put in the effort to leave this room for…” He trailed off with an exaggerated sigh, though if nothing else he could accidentally cause some collateral damage if he was really up for it.
The little insect smiled wickedly, making Rak wish that the woman wasn't off limits for obvious reasons. ‘Oh how I would make you scream…’ He would have to settle for his imagination.
“I have good news for you then, since the town was actually taken by hundreds, maybe even well over a thousand, armed soldiers.”
Interest immediately peaked, his eyes widening as he sat upright to regard the headmaster directly. “That…could be worth it… It's still nothing the inquisitors can't handle though, granted with some actual effort. So why come to me?” He questioned suspiciously, but was partially sold on it if it meant a few days of distraction.
A wide and sadistic smile crossed her face, one that he was all too accustomed with himself. “The nobility seem to consider the number of rebels there to be a massive threat to the kingdom's unity, as well as the town itself.” She answered darkly, and the beginning of a knowing smile started to show itself on his face.
“Oh? Do go on.” He insisted joyfully.
The headmaster chuckled, having grabbed his full attention. “Well since so many rebels are there, many would slip through the combing of the town, and infect the surrounding population. Not to mention the population of the town itself. Who knows how many people have fallen for such traitorous ideas?”
Rak's face became warped with manic excitement, while his tail swayed in equal thrill. “Such a terrible situation, but how exactly is the academy going to resolve this unfortunate circumstance?” He inquired exaggeratedly, knowing full well what the answer was.
Her visage darkened. “By enacting an old decree that's still conveniently written into law. A complete and total purge of the town, in other words…” She trailed off for him to finish.
The man stood up with a new found vigor. “Extermination.” He stated with an elated edge.
The precious little bug nodded. “Exactly. We are currently rounding up the most zealous of our mages to properly carry out the effort. Currently we have about forty, more than enough, but I think a guardian like yourself would be a welcome addition. So what do you say, enough to sate your appetite?” She asked with a playful tone.
“And here I was missing the Gron territories.”
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