Chapter 13
November 10th, 1664. Northern border of Jagstadt.
A soldier of the Grand Imperial Army yawned as he stared out at the frozen plains in front of him. He was stationed on the border between the Empire and Orcland, and he was incredibly bored.
He had heard from his brother that the Empress’s forces had been fighting quite a bit. All he had to send back to his brother was that the Scout Boyz would occasionally come and stare at him, nothing particularly out of the ordinary.
He sighed and looked off in the distance, spotting some of the aforementioned scout boyz. It was a group of twenty of them, far more than he usually saw. He considered waving at them when he saw even more appear out of the snow. Then more. Dozens of scout boyz, all staring directly at him.
Seeing a few was nothing strange, Orcs were very curious creatures, but seeing that many at once, that was concerning. He climbed down from his watch tower and ran over to his commander.
“Sir! There are a shit ton of scout boyz near the border! Like, way more than usual! What should we do?”
The commander looked at the man without a hint of concern on his face.
“I wouldn’t worry too much about it. They’re just trying to scare us.”
“How can you be so sure, sir? If you don’t mind me asking.”
The commander shrugged.
“I figure if they were going to join the Baron and attack us, they would’ve done it by now. It’s been over a year since the civil war started, there’s no way they’re going to do something now.”
The soldier looked unconvinced and the commander sighed.
“Son, this border hasn’t seen a single second of action for decades, maybe even a century at this point. The Orcs don't want to fight us, that I'm sure of. But, if it makes you feel any better, I’ll request some reinforcements. Though I doubt we’ll get any.”
The soldier nodded and gave the commander a crisp salute.
“Thank you, sir!”
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December 28th, 1664. Leibenstadt.
An Imperial sat up in his chair when he noticed something was off. The ground wasn’t shaking anymore, and there were no explosions going off around him. He looked outside and found that the bombardment had stopped.
The ground of the courtyard was covered with craters, and everything was covered in a layer of soot and gunpowder residue. He walked out on the parapet and found something. A Waffenstadt soldier stood in front of the gatehouse of the third layer of defenses. He was waving a white flag, the symbol of parlay in the Empire. A soldier leaned over the parapet and yelled.
“What do you want, traitor?!”
The Waffenstadter yelled at the top of his lungs.
“The Baron wishes to speak to garrison commander Hasselbach!”
After a few seconds of silence the Imperial yelled from the parapet.
“I’ll get the commander, but the Baron has to come personally!”
“Understood! I’ll go get him!”
The Waffenstadt soldier ran off to fetch the Baron, and the Imperial went to get Hasselbach.
Hasselbach stood tall on the parapet, and the Baron stood tall on the ground below him.
“Hasselbach! It has been far too long!”
Hasselbach nodded.
“Yes, it has. Been at least a decade since we last spoke in person.”
“Alright, I will get to the point. The fall of the third layer of defenses is inevitable. The Empress’s forces are not coming any time soon, they’re too busy raiding my countryside to assist, and my Orkniers are making sure they will never have the supplies to reach us.”
The Baron smiled.
“I am a magnanimous man, you and your men will be safely returned to their homes. Those whose families have the ability to pay ransom will do so, and those without shall be returned without hassle.”
The Baron smirked.
“Or without Hassel if your prefer.”
Hasselbach considered his offer for a few seconds.
“Unfortunately, I will have to decline.”
The Baron’s smile fell. He figured that would be the case, but it was still a shame.
“Are you sure? I am just trying to avoid the further spilling of Imperial blood.”
Hasselbach’s eye twitched slightly.
“If you were interested in avoiding bloodshed you would not have started a civil war!”
The Baron chuckled.
“Well, I suppose you have a point there, however, I do want to minimize the amount of unnecessary casualties.”
He smiled brightly.
“And part of that is stopping the Empress from murdering any more innocent villagers. You know she has razed dozens of towns and villages to the ground, killed all of their inhabitants, men, women, and children, and mounted their heads on fucking stakes? That is what you and your men are fighting for!”
He shook his head angrily.
“They didn’t do anything, I am the one who has wronged her, not them! She must be stopped as soon as possible!”
Hasselbach shook his head solemnly.
“It is my duty to protect this citadel to the death. I swore an oath, and unlike you I am unwilling to break my oath to the Empire.”
“Please, I ask you to reconsider-”
“I will not! I will make you pay for every inch of this citadel with blood! There will be no surrender, and any of my men who even consider your offer will be shot! Good day sir!”
He turned on his heel and left before the Baron could say anything else. He sighed and turned, walking back to the safety of his men.
“Well, we are going to have to take it by force.”
He gestured to the mortar crews.
“Commence bombardment again boys. They had their moment of peace!”
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Abbot Adol sat at his desk, puffing on his pipe.
“So, Ugo Pfiegler, what exactly did you think you were doing?”
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The young man in front of him was Ugo Pfiegler, the instigator of the Grössenburg race riot of November 8th and student at the University of Grössenburg.
“I was trying to rid our wonderful city of elven scum and traitors.”
Abbot looked very unimpressed.
“And you decided to do that by…breaking into a noble’s estate and murdering random slaves?”
Ugo crossed his arms.
“We were making sure the elves knew their place, and the penalty for treason.”
“Sir with all due respect those elves were not doing anything, and you instigated a race riot. Imperial law says-”
“We should follow the spirit of the law, not the le-”
Abbot Adol blew a massive plume of smoke into Ugo’s face, causing him to cough. Adol stared at Ugo, rage clear in his eyes.
“Did you just interrupt me?”
“Uh-”
“Did you seriously just interrupt the Empress’s spymaster? To tell him to bend, no, break Imperial law? Do you even understand the magnitude of what you just did?”
Ugo nodded, looking down at his feet.
“Yes sir, I do. I am very sorry for interrupting you.”
“Do you think that your privileged status as a student means that you are above the law?”
Ugo shook his head.
“No sir.”
“Then what were you thinking?”
“Sir, I was trying to protect my beloved city.”
Abbot rolled his eyes.
“By instigating a race riot and killing thirty slaves who were minding their own business.”
“By making sure the elves know their place.”
Abbot tapped out the ash from his pipe and began to pack it with more tobacco.
“I understand that you had the…”
He made air quotes as he spoke.
“‘best of intentions’, however, you still instigated a riot. You are lucky that you are a student, otherwise I would have had you shot.”
Ugo continued to look down at his feet.
“You will be given a fine and you will spend a few months in jail-and count your lucky stars that I am not sending you to an Imperial prison instead. The noble whose slaves you killed is demanding recompense and punishment, so you will pay him for the slaves you killed.”
Ugo looked up at Abbot.
“H-how much is this fine?”
Abbot smiled.
“Oh, not too much, just one thousand Reiksgeld.”
The blood drained from Ugo’s face.
“I-I-I can’t pay that!”
“Then you will offer small payments until you can. Don’t worry, he insisted on interest, but I will not do that.”
He leaned back in his chair and lit his pipe with fire magic.
“You are a student, afterall. You will simply work around the academy, after you have served your time.”
“But my studies will suffer!”
Abbot rolled his eyes.
“Please, I am being as reasonable as I can, far too reasonable honestly. Just take it on the chin and avoid instigating anything in the future.”
He narrowed his eyes at Ugo as he puffed on his pipe.
“If you do it again-”
He turned into smoke instantly and rushed over to the boy, materializing his chest and up and placing a gun to the boy’s gut.
“You will be shot. Have I made myself clear?”
Ugo was shaking in his boots.
“Y-y-yes sir!”
Abbot smiled and floated back to his desk, materializing fully in his chair and crossing one leg over the other.
“Excellent. The guards outside will escort you to your cell.”
He leaned forwards conspiratorially and whispered.
“Don’t worry, if you’re a good boy you will be released early.”
He leaned back in his chair and puffed on his pipe.
“You are a student, afterall.”
Ugo looked confused and Abbot Adol smiled.
“Students are a privileged class in the Empire, count your lucky stars that you are one. And remember who pays for your education next time you consider doing something so stupid again.”
After a few seconds Ugo saluted Abbot.
“Thank you sir!”
Abbot waved his hand.
“Oh, don’t thank me. I’m just following Imperial policy.”
Ugo turned on his heel and left Abbot’s office. Abbot sunk deeper into his chair and sighed as he blew out a plume of smoke.
“Stupid kid. I should’ve just shot him. Rioting in my city-unbelievable, the gall. The Empress is far too lenient on students, it doesn't make sense.”
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December 19th, 1664. Holensburg.
A representative of the Ironworker’s Guild sat across from Alecsandr Aleksandrovic.
“Allow me to cut straight to the chase. Our miners require a raise, and better safety standards in the mines.”
Alecsandr narrowed his eyes.
“And what do you offer in exchange?”
“I hear that the firearms of our army are of poor quality and old. We plan on creating a new firearms factory, owned and operated by the guild.”
“So, you offer us firearms? We can make our own.”
The representative smiled.
“We offer the Alekensdrovic family exclusive rights to sell our muskets and rifles for five years. We are following the Waffenstadt model, our factories will be far more efficient than what we currently have.”
Alecsandr frowned. It was a decent deal. Guns sold for a pretty penny, especially these days.
“What kind of safety standards are we talking here? And how much of a raise?”
“We only ask for a raise of five Reiksgeld per hour, and we would require that our workers are given protective equipment and better engineers to keep the mines from collapsing.”
“Well…that sounds...somewhat reasonable.”
The representative frowned.
“It is very reasonable compared to what our people wanted. Additionally, if you deny this deal we will strike. It is as simple as that, so you should take this deal before it changes.”
Alecsandr scowled.
“Great, more threats. We will do fine without your men.”
The representative smiled and shook his head.
“You are far too confident in your ability to circumvent us. More people join the guild every day, and we are beginning to expand into other industries as well. The tailor’s guild will be folded into our sphere of influence by the end of the month.”
Alecsandr continued to scowl. He knew what the representative said was true.
“...fine. I accept your deal. Your miners will have better conditions and pay, and we will have an exclusive contract with your factory for five years.”
The representative smiled and leaned across the table, extending his hand for a handshake.
“It’s been a pleasure working with you, Alecsandr.”
Alecsandr shook it, a look of displeasure clear across his face.
“If only I could say the same."
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December 20th, 1664. Leibenstadt.
Ottoman engineers silently dug a small tunnel, large enough for just a couple of men to squeeze in side by side. They gouged out rock with their earth magic and carried it down the tunnel with gravity magic.
Waffenstadt engineers slowly hammered supports into place to keep the tunnel from collapsing. They did their work in near silence, as they didn’t want to give away their position to the enemy, who was constantly listening.
The Ottoman engineer carved out a large chunk of rock, and when he moved it he was face to face with an Imperial tunneler. The two men stared at each other’s dust-caked faces for a few moments before leaping into action.
The Imperial drew a pistol and fired into the Ottoman’s chest, the sound deafening him and those closest to the downed Ottoman. The Ottoman behind him drew his own pistol and fired, hitting just to the left of the man, pinging off the wall next to him. The Imperial crawled through the gap with a long, thin knife drawn, and behind him his comrade drew his own pistol.
The Imperial’s comrade aimed over his shoulder and fired, nailing the other Ottoman engineer dead in the face. He dropped back onto the Waffenstadt engineer, who desperately tried to get out from under his collapsed ally. By the time he was able to wriggle out from under the man the Imperials were on him, thrusting their daggers into the engineer as he hurridly tried to crawl away.
The Imperials wasted no time, as soon as the engineer stopped moving they ran down the tunnel, stopping a few dozen yards in and turning their attention to the supports. The two men nodded at each other and their eyes began to glow red.
They touched a flaming hand to the bottom of the supports, and as soon as they caught fire they ran back where they came from, lighting each support as they passed. The tunnel collapsed behind them as the wooden beams burnt down and the men cheered to each other. They returned to the third layer of defenses and laughed as they saluted commander Hasselbach.
“You were right! Their tunnel was here! We killed a few engineers and managed to collapse their tunnels a good hundred yards in!”
Hasselbach smiled and gestured to the men as he spoke to an aide.
“Get them some extra rations! And wine! The good stuff! They’ve earned it!”