Chapter 14
January 7th, 1663.
The Baron was reading through letters he had gotten from his allies.
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Brother,
My forces are ready to assist you, 30,000 of our finest men will flood into Leibenstadt when ready, and 30,000 more will defend our northern border from The Empress.
If your timeline works out, we are ready to link up with your forces on February 10th. On that day, just send a rider to Fort Haslencher and we will move out.
Good luck,
Ingo von Waffenstadt
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The Baron smiled. Wolfgang had given him a fairly extensive timeline. He wasn’t entirely sure what sort of social wizardry he was going to engage in to make it work, but he had faith.
The Baron’s eyes glowed and a small flame appeared at the tip of his finger and held the paper over until it was completely consumed. He grabbed another stamped with the seal of Holenstadt, twin sabers crossed behind a hussar’s helmet.
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Baron von Bickenstadt,
125,000 men are prepared to lay down their lives for freedom and independence. We will begin to move into position in preparation for February 10th immediately. We have our own forts and fortresses along our border, left over from our independent days and new ones built by the Empress herself. All we need to do is reinforce the old ones and take the new ones, and then Holenstadt will be impregnable.
The plan is clear and satisfactory, they will not make it past our defensive line. We will fight them in the mountains, we will fight them in the forests, we will fight them in the cities, we are ready to fight!
All we require from you is coordination and material aid. Food will be tight after we are cut off from Ebenenstadt despite our high quality farmland, we simply do not have enough arable land. You will procure food for us and we will purchase it at a reasonable price.
If this is not done, then Holenstadt is finished. We expect good food and good prices. The Bszerci people thank you for your solidarity. We will fight hard, and we hope you will do the same.
For the cause,
Aleczandr Aleksandrovic. Krysia Badeni. Bartosz Gasztold.
As well as the Ironworkers Guild.
We stand united behind you.
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The Baron nodded his head as he read. The food was no problem, he could rely on imports from abroad, especially after he could begin openly trading with elves. Napoleon informed he they had vast amounts of black soil, perfect for farming. They have plenty of food to sell, and he was willing to send some for free as aid should it come down to it.
The Baron burned that letter and grabbed another with the seal of Caprae Loco, a goat head wearing a roman helmet.
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Baronis de Bickenstadt,
We are prepared to fight for your vision of spreading republicanism to the Empire.
We have 50,000 men, 40,000 humans and 10,000 Brayherds ready to fight. We are with you to the end, from Frederick to Grössenburg.
We eagerly await your word to move out. We are a patient people, we will wait until the word has been spread. On February 10th, we will raise the flag of the republic and march into your homeland, hoping to make it a better place for humans and Brayherd alike!
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The Baron smiled as he read through the Baryherd’s letter. If even a a tenth of those fifty thousand men promised were Brayherds they would be a force to be reckoned with. They would be a great help in liberating Leibenstadt.
He burned it and picked up another letter stamped with the House of Osman’s official seal.
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Baron von Bickenstadt and Holenstadt,
We are ready. I will have 10,000 men sent to your mountain fortress when you give word. They will be stationed around a day’s march from the fortress around the oasis town of Wahati. After you have begun your siege, we will begin to move.
All you need do is coordinate with us. We have methods to contact you quickly even through the mountain, it will be sent back with your messenger.
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The Baron’s mouth salivated at the ending of the letter. It most likely meant he was going to be given a Sending Stone, something which he had wanted for decades but had simply not been able to find.
The artisans that made sending stones were very few in the Empire, and the ones abroad who could make them were working directly for their own governments, so the Baron had not been able to procure one. As far as he knew, there were five sets in the Empire, and the Imperial family had control over all of them.
To retrieve the stone he would most likely send Fergus. He was the safest choice, as the only thing which could kill Fergus was a line of gunners, and even then the prospect was questionable.
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He did as he did with the other letters and grabbed another, this one with a seal which features a caricature of an orc.
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Baron von Bickenstadt,
Wez ain’t gonna go back on our deal, but wez can’t go for it completely.
See, wez been gettin’ into a scrap wif Callumsburg, an’ dat pulled deir gitz into it, an’ now we can’t do too much. Wez is still gonna be threatin’ raids and bein’ real scary, maybe even do a few, but we can’t spare da manpowa’ to foight da Empress.
Wez is gonna work wif ya, but we can’t guarantee nothin’ more dan fear o’ invasion.
Jack.
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The Baron shook his head and sighed. He figured something like this might happen. Orcland was always in a constant state of warfare, so he and Wolfgang, mostly Wolfgang, had planned around this exact possibility.
It was a shame they would not be providing troops, but it was not the end of the world. As long as they made the Empress keep troops in Grössenstadt, they would still hold up their end of the bargain. He burned that letter and grabbed another from the Land of Everlasting Rain.
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Baron von Bickenstadt und Holenstadt
Regensburg offers you 10,000 men to assist in keeping the Empress from crossing the great river which divides our country. We do not swear fealty to you, we swear fealty to the cause of Liberation and Democracy. Should you stray from your principles, we will pull support.
Regensburg City Council.
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It was about what the Baron expected. Ten thousand men was nothing to sneeze at, but it would hardly win the war. They were used to living in waterlogged terrain, so they would hopefully be extremely useful in keeping the Empress’s forces from crossing Der Großer Teilender Fluss.
Amphibious operations were a nightmare even for experienced armies, and the river itself was extremely perilous. The waters of the great river were choppy and swift, and it was a couple hundred feet wide in most places, though it varied between being a few dozen yards at the shallowest and nearly a mile at the widest.
The Baron burned that letter and skimmed through the rest, a few dozen from various Anarchic Horsemen groups pledging their aid, but not their fealty, just like Regenstadt. The Baron took a deep breath and stood from his desk, it was nearly time for him to make an announcement.
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The Baron stood on a stage at a podium in the largest square of Bickenstadt city. An air mage created a voice amplification rune for him and hovered it over the center of the podium.
The Baron stared out at the crowd, the people of Bickenstadt, as well as foreign residents and merchants, all waiting to hear his announcement. He took in a deep breath and began to speak.
“I call you all here today to make something known: my opinion on elven slavery. Namely, that it is abhorrent in all its forms, and that it has no place in a nation built on unity!”
The crowd cheered and he allowed it to die down before continuing.
“Even though it is banned wherever I have influence, it is still going strong in the rest of our Empire. I, for one, find that to be unacceptable!”
The crowd cheered again.
“I am taking a stand against that disgusting institution! From this day forth, any goods coming from the provinces of Grössenstadt, Bvarien, Weinstadt, Jagstadt, and Ebenenstadt shall have an fifty percent tariff attached to them, unless they can prove they were produced using no elven slave labor!”
The crowd cheered.
“Now, I am sure you are wondering, ‘how does this affect me? Will my cost of living rise? Will I be able to feed my family?’. Do not worry, dear citizens of Bickenstadt, you will be able to live as you were! I assure you that I will keep food costs down, your families will not go hungry! I will not allow the freedom of one people to come at the expense of another, freedom ought to be shared amongst all, not simply a few!”
The crowd roared in approval, chanting his name and generally celebrating the fact that the Baron was not going to engage in austerity.
“If the aforementioned provinces would like to end this tariff, simply end the institution of elven slavery! Send those who wish to go home back, and give Imperial citizenship to those who decide to stay! Again, I am taking a stand against slavery! I do this because I believe in freedom, freedom for all, not just for humans!”
The Baron paused to allow the crowd to get the screaming done
“We are taking the first step in the fight for equality, and in doing so I call upon the other provinces to end that disgusting institution! If we are to fulfill the purpose of the Empire, to unite the disparate people from every corner of our lands, we must believe in equality for all! Today, I make it my mission to work towards fulfilling the promise of our Empire! Someday, every elf will be free from bondage, and every man will have a right to determine the direction of his own life!”
The crowd’s cheers reached a fever pitch as the Baron bowed to them and walked off the state. He was swiftly approached by Wolfgang, smiling and clapping quietly.
“Excellent work, dad.”
The Baron put a hand on Wolfgang’s shoulder.
“Thank you, son. Couldn’t have done it without you. Excellent speech, by the way.”
“Thank you. Now come, we have more work to do.”
Wolfgang grinned.
“More antagonizing to do.”
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January 9th, 1663.
The Empress sat in front of a mirror in her chambers. She was applying makeup, emphasizing her eyes and lips, and making her sharp jawline more apparent. She had gotten word that the Baron had declared a tariff on all slave made goods, and now she had to appease the merchants and noblemen who were guaranteed to throw a fit. She sighed.
“Like there’s anything I can do about that.”
The door opened behind her and a man entered quietly. She could tell who it was by the smell of tobacco. She spoke while continuing to apply her makeup.
“Abbot, to what do I owe the pleasure?”
Abbot Adol walked over to her, a little more intensely than he usually moved.
“Empress, you need to flood the streets with guards tomorrow.”
She paused mid applying contour and set down her brush and turned to him.
“And why is that?”
Abbot’s hair was messy, and his pipe was still smoking.
“You know I don’t like my room smelling like tobacco.”
Abbot scoffed.
“Ma’am, this is more important than your room smelling bad. I believe something is going to happen tomorrow, a protest perhaps.”
She perked up.
“A protest?”
“Yes, I have heard chatter from some of the progressive radicals we’re keeping an eye on, I recently heard one of them mention the date January 10th.”
“That’s tomorrow.”
“Yes, that’s tomorrow. Anyways, I heard one of them use the word ‘demonstration’, and I heard from a few of them that they will have ‘quite a lot of people’. I find this quite suspicious, so I recommend that you increase security around the streets tomorrow. Maybe even put soldiers out.”
The Empress pursed her lips in thought.
“Hm, yes, I will do just that. Spread the word to the guards and my officers. I want groups one through fifteen out patrolling alongside the regular guards. Understood?”
Abbot Adol smiled.
“Yes, Empress.”
He bowed flamboyantly as he left the room.
“It shall be done.”