Chapter 18
The day after his very seditious meeting with Wolfgang and Fergus, the Baron was tearing up his library in an attempt to find information. When he woke up in the morning he realized that he had no actual idea what ‘Brayherds’ were. He figured it was probably some fantasy thing, but aside from that he knew embarrassingly little about them. The only problem was the library itself.
“Is this place even organized? The only bookshelf labeled is the bookshelf with physics textbooks...wait why does this world have proper physics textbooks? Isn’t this like, the renaissance? Or I guess some sort of renaissance-early industrial hybrid? This is 21st century at least. Well...I don't think that's right. Maybe 19th? 20th?”
It took him a good 10 minutes of searching, and a not insignificant amount of language unbecoming for a man of his standing, to find a book claiming to have accurate anatomy of all of the world’s different races, and more importantly, an accurate summary of their cultures and empires.
“Let’s see...no author...no date of printing...no sources...Jesus Christ are the standards in this world so low?”
First he began with the human anatomy section. He basically knew all he needed to know about human physiology to make sure this book had mostly accurate information.
“Hmmm...appendix...gallbladder...well this seems pretty accurate, let’s see about the nations page…”
The Baron flipped through the nation’s sections, skimming the pages as he went.
“Mhmm...The Empire...Barons…hereditary succession...split into provinces...looks good enough. Let’s just hope the rest of the book is accurate.”
First he flipped to the world map to get an idea of where everything was. Despite being one of the most powerful men in the Empire, he wasn’t sure where anything was, having yet to regain his memories of geography.
There were four continents in all, with two continents connected on each side of the world. The Empire was on the continent of Alwelt, which took up most of the north-eastern side of the map he was looking at.
The Empire took up the vast majority of northern Alwelt, with provinces and territory stretching coast to coast. It looked like the Empire was about 4000 miles north to south and 3000 miles east to west. Bickenstadt was on the far northwest of the Empire, below Holenstadt but above Leibenstadt. Caprae Loco was far southeast of the Bickenstadt, on the eastern border of Leibenstadt near the Sicherheit Gebirgskette, the mountain range that separates North and South Alwelt.
Having seen basically all he needed to from the map, the Baron flipped to the table of contents, then to the Brayherd’s anatomy page.
“Oh, the level of detail hasn’t dropped at all! This is probably a good book.”
The Brayherds looked to be some kind of half man half animal, which given the name wasn’t surprising. The torso was that of a human, the organs and muscles and everything they shared matched up exactly, but the legs and head were that of a goat.
However, it seemed there was one exception, the tribe of Brayherds with the head of a Bison, though the population was maybe 10% of the total. Then the Baron read something that gave him pause.
“Wait...does that say...twice the size of the average human? As in 10ft?”
The Baron looked closer, attempting to make sure he read that right.
“Oh thank god, only the Bisonmen are 10ft on average, the normal brayherds are only about 7ft on average...oh my god.”
The Baron buried his head in his hands.
“That is so god damned big!”
After getting over the size difference, the Baron went on to read about their government and architecture. The Baron’s eye bulged in surprise as he read.
…Their style of government, as well their architecture style, is what the Brayherds refer to as De Publica Romanorum In Latine. (see pg.289 for beginning of Latine index). Their architecture has a very heavy emphasis on pillars and arches, featuring in all of their buildings. The average Brayherd lives in a Domus, a building with 13 rooms and a large square hallway connecting all of them, as well as a courtyard in the middle with a hole in the roof to allow for the growing of plants in direct sunlight. Their roofs are made with terracotta tiling, which help protect against the elements in the…
“Publica Romanorum?! Is that Latin!? And those houses perfectly match the ancient roman houses I saw when I went to Ostia! What even are the Brayherds?!”
He frantically skipped to the government section, and unlike before he just chuffed in exasperation.
…Their government is what is referred to as a Democracy, or a system in which any group of eligible people vote on what their government does. Caprae Loco is specifically a Representative Democracy, meaning citizens vote on representatives who run the government instead of directly deciding on policy.
Caprae Loco uses the Senate as a vessel for their democratic workings. The Brayherds working in the senate, known as Senators, are appointed by a group known as the Censors, who are a group of ten men elected by the citizens of the Brayherd’s capital city of Caprae Loco.
Not all who live in Caprae Loco are citizens, as to become a citizen one must serve in the military for 10 years. A Brayherd can live their whole lives in Caprae Loco and never become a citizen, should they avoid serving in their all volunteer army.
Additionally, there are also what the Brayherds refer to as Famulorum, or indentured servants. The Famulorum are made up of captives enslaved after loss in battle. After working as a Famulorum for ten years they are granted citizenship and given a plot of land to farm should they decide to stay…
He didn’t really know what to think of it.
“Well then...that is...strange.”
He truly didn’t expect them to be Romans, especially not the Roman Republic Romans. It would take him some time to put together his thoughts on the matter. It was a lot to take in, and it was a huge problem for him.
He knew how to deal with Germans and Frenchmen well enough, and he assumed that whatever Fergus counted as could deal with the way he expected a Viking to be, just like an angry Scandinavian, and so far it has worked out just fine. But he had no real idea what the Romans were like, and thus didn’t have any frame of reference for how to appeal to their sensibilities.
“I think there was something about civic nationalism or something...maybe they’re all just really haughty? So should I treat them all like the boss’s son or something...no that’s stupid...I guess I’ll just have to find out when I get there. Oh! I wonder if they have any literature I can read before… yeah that should probably give me a good idea of how they think.”
He didn’t remember talking out loud to himself nearly so much during his other life. Now just thinking without talking tended to make everything come out garbled. Maybe the Baron has undiagnosed ADHD, he had heard that people with it tended to talk to themselves quite often.
As he was losing himself in his thoughts, Wolfgang came into the Library.
“Father, it’s time you decide who is coming with you to Caprae Loco. I have some suggestions.”
The Baron closed his book and set it down on the table. He would have to organize them properly at some point, or better yet pay someone else to do it.
“Of course, let’s see it! I doubt you’ll come up with a different answer than mine last night.”
Wolfgang sat down next to his father and handed him a piece of paper. His handwriting was clean and almost too perfect, neat block letters with no variance in their penmanship, which in a strange way gave his handwriting its own sort of individuality. The Baron imagined Helmut’s handwriting was most likely very close in style.
“Oh my, you’ve got a report for me, how formal! Let’s see...Brayherds enjoy...wrestling and unarmed combat? And therefore you recommend bringing Fergus and Udo. And, since you think this meeting could be very fortuitous...my my big words there...I should bring along Ludwin or members of his merchant company.”
Wolfgang rolled his eyes.
“You are the last man to lecture me about being too verbose.”
“Yeah yeah, allow an old man to poke fun at his son. It’s the foundational interaction of our species after all!”
Wolfgang rolled his eyes even harder.
“I thank you for making my point for me.”
“Anyway, I agree with your recommendations, though I think we should bring some of our own bureaucrats as well.”
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“Yes, that is what I recommend in the next line.”
The Baron smiled, nodded, and patted his son’s shoulder.
“Oh what would I do without you!”
“Probably die.”
The Baron scoffed.
“Oh come on, that’s...only a little fair.”
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A couple of hours later they gathered all of the Baron’s inner circle to announce their next mission. They all met in the Baron’s office, the five lieutenants standing in front of the Baron’s desk while the Baron sat behind said desk with his son standing in his shadow.
“I am sure you all have enjoyed the four or so months of vacation time, my coffers certainly did. However, I have another mission for you. I am going to be visiting the Brayherds of Caprae Loco to open up proper relations between our two great cities, and two that end I am going to require three of you.”
The Baron looked each man in the eye as he called their names.
“Udo, Fergus, and Ludwin. You three shall accompany me to Caprae Loco as official delegates of Bickenstadt and the Klarwasser Mercenary Company. Understood?”
Fergus and Udo nodded their heads, but Ludwin just frowned. The Baron looked to Ludwin curiously.
"Something the matter, Ludwin?"
"Baron, I am sorry but, I cannot come along for this mission. My grandfather has fallen sick with Tuberculosis, so I am going back to Bvarian to be with him until the end."
The Baron's face softened immediately.
"Oh, of course Ludwin, don't worry about it. You take as much time off as you need. This is merely to deepen relations between us, don’t feel too bad about missing it.”
Ludwin bowed his head in thanks.
“I am grateful. You treat us too well.”
The Baron smiled.
“Of course I do! You may leave now, if you wish. I would not want to rob you of even a second more with your grandfather.”
Ludwin saluted the Baron, his appreciation showing in the THUMP his fist made as it struck his chest. As he left, Hans raised his hand.
“Sir, what are me and Helmut to do while you are gone?”
The Baron gestured to Wolfgang, who handed the two a small folder. As they began to skim through the documents, the Baron spoke.
“You two will be in charge of training the men. We are changing the way we fight, switching around the ratio of weapons and swapping our regular spears for pikes. Additionally, we will be completely phasing out archers. I believe they are a hold over from an older age.”
The Baron drew a pistol and set it down on his desk for emphasis.
“We live in the age of powder now, it’s time to act like it! With rifles becoming cheaper and more common, we need to adopt them and quickly become the best if we are to stay on top. For our ranged men, I want a ratio of roughly 65-35 Musketmen-Riflemen. For our more traditional units, 50-50 Pikeman-Swordsman. Additionally, I will be increasing the proportion of ranged to melee troops from 35-65 to 45-55. All of this information is in your folder, first page.”
The Baron waited until they had finished the first page.
“You two, as well as my son Wolfgang, will have full discretion of who you hire, Wolfgang will be in charge of how many. Additionally, you two will be in charge of training the men. I suggest you work with our current veterans on training the newer men. Our strategy is going to be doing as much damage with the firearms as possible before sending in the swordsmen. The pikemen’s role will be to protect our firearms. Suggested drills are included in your folder.”
After skimming through the second page, Hans raised his voice.
“Sir, are we going to be in charge of procuring firearms? We will need far more than we currently have.”
The Baron shook his head.
“No, that will be done by Wolfgang. He is going to commission weapons from Ingo von Waffenstadt, his uncle.”
Udo spoke out, not raising his hand or waiting for the Baron to continue.
“Why don’t we just do that on the way? Aren’t we goin’ right by it?”
The Baron winced, but quickly forced his face back to neutral.
“Well…because I don’t want to. That’s it. I don’t want to. Is everyone’s assignment understood?”
The four men snapped a salute.
“Yes sir!”
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“...what the…”
“...is that a…”
“...never seen one before…”
There was a crowd forming around a street currently under repairs. A stone merchant had lost control of his cart and sent it careening into the manument at a major street, Die Freiheitstraβe. The cart had ripped up a good portion of road, and had destroyed the monument built there.
The monument was of the Baron and his beloved son Wolfgang, Wolfgang at a desk and the Baron blocking a sword behind him, meant to symbolize the role each of them played in Bickenstadt. At the base facing the street was a plaque which read:
Remember who provides for you your future! Wolfgang von Bickenstadt!
Remember who slays for you the enemies of Bickenstadt! Johan Bleichröder von Bickenstadt!
Join them in working towards a better world!
The monument was being replaced, a large slab of marble was imported from Caprae Loco to be carved in public, as a sort of street performance. The Baron thought it would be fun for people to watch, and he believed that exposure of the common people to the arts was good for both them, and Bickenstadt itself. Additionally his usual team of artists, denizens of his secret city for one reason or another, were more than happy to work outside where they could bask in the rays of the sun for a change. However, the actual carving would be done after the street had been repaired.
The worksite was barricaded. Wooden blockers created a small wall to prevent people from wandering onto the site and getting injured. Additionally, there were a few armed guards present to prevent the theft of materials and, today, to hold back the crowd of people coming to see what was going on. Or, more importantly, who was there.
Construction sites usually had people coming and going, as construction was somewhat interesting to watch, however they never had crowds like this. People were clambering over each other to get a look at what was in the site itself: An elf, walking around not just completely free of chains, but giving orders to humans as well.
Most people in Bickenstadt had never seen an elf before. Since elven slavery was banned, the city simply had no elf population. Until recently, when the Baron hired Jean La Mechanique to fix and build infrastructure around the province. He was never seen without armed, and more importantly human, guards, and yet people constantly approached to get a closer look. Even though there were technically free elves within the Empire, they were still legally barred from moving around the country freely, and so the very few emancipated elves were stuck in whatever province they were freed in, so a free elf was quite the exotic sight.
In Grossenburg, elven slavery is fairly common, and the state put in considerable effort to propagandize to their population. And while provinces like Holenstadt had very little elven slavery and did not rely on it for anything truly important, they still spread the racist propaganda the Empress requests that all provinces distribute. Bickenstadt, however, had neither occurring. The hatred that Grossenburgers’ showed towards elves was instead replaced with a curiosity about the strange foreigner. After all, they had friendly relations with the Orcs and Dwarves who visited and lived in Bickenstadt, why would elves be any different?
Jean smiled as he heard a young girl ask her mother why his ears were so long. Children were always curious about his ears, and that never failed to lift his spirits. His smile faltered slightly however as he braced for the answer of her mother. The answer he usually heard parents give their children in Grossenburg was ‘evil energies lengthen them, and makes them stupider and angrier.’
“I’m not sure Schatzi. I think elves are just born like that.”
“Do you think the Baron knows? Papa told me he knows a lot!”
The mother bent over to pinch her child’s cheek.
“I’d be surprised if he didn’t, Schatzi.”
Jean was barely able to hold in his tears. He had gotten used to hearing horrible things about elves during his visit to the Empire, and had resigned himself to the fate of hearing people talk about him like he wasn’t even a sapient being at all.
There was a murmur in the crowd as a man, with the assistance of an armed and armored guard, parted the mass of Bickenstadters and made his way towards Jean.
“Jean. How goes the work? From my vantage point in Bickenstadt castle it looks excellent.”
The man shook hands with Jean as he approached. The murmurs grew louder as the two spoke. Wolfgang von Bickenstadt was in public, shaking hands and talking cordially with an elf. It was unheard of for a nobleman to be seen with a free elf, let alone to shake hands with one.
“It is progressing well! Your men are making quick work of their assignments, 'onestly I am impressed. We tend to take our sweet time with projects like this!”
“Excellent. Have they been treating you well? Have any of them refused to listen to an elf?”
Wolfgang smiled as he heard people talking behind him. He had ordered that Jean work personally from each jobsite he was in charge of. He wanted people to see an elf working on their infrastructure. The more people are exposed to a different race and interact amicably, the less likely they are to support their marginalization.
He had hoped to spark rumors of an elf doing good work in Bickenstadt, and especially that an elf was being treated well by the rulers of Bickenstadt. Since Freiheitstraβe was a major road, a lot of people would come to see what’s going on, and more importantly, they would see him, a well known and well liked ruler, treating an elf like a normal human. It was the first step in his propaganda campaign.
“No, I would say no. They are a bit stiff at times, but it seems that Imperials possess a strong work ethique! Reminds me of ‘ome. We seem to share a lot of positive qualities, Wolfgang, your people and mine!”
The conversation the two were having was discussed beforehand. The two were close to the largest crowd and speaking loud enough for people to hear. Jean was a little stiff, but that was fine. All that mattered was that people were seeing an elf in a positive light.
“That is great to hear! Keep up the good work! And if you have any problems with my people, come directly to me. You are now a valued asset, and you will be treated as such. Here, a sign of goodwill from the city of Bickenstadt!”
Wolfgang retrieved a pin from inside his shirt. It portrayed a ship docking at a port, the symbol of Bickenstadt, made from silver with gold inlay and vibrant paint. It was a beautiful, and more importantly conspicuous, symbol of Bickenstadt’s support. Wolfgang smiled as Jean rubbed the back of his neck.
“I don’t know, that is so expensive.”
Wolfgang waved his hand dismissively.
“Nonsense! This is a gift from the Baron himself, for your excellent work, and for sharing your elven expertise.”
Wolfgang stepped forward and pinned it to Jean’s chest.
“Keep up the good work, Jean. And remember, if anyone treats you poorly, you come straight to me.”
The two men shook hands and Wolfgang left the site. As Jean was getting over the discomfort at being a public spectacle, he spotted the little girl from earlier, standing on the tips of her toes to peek over the wooden barricade. Jean smiled and waved at her, causing her to giggle and run back to her mother.
“Maybe being in public isn’t so bad.”
Jean mumbled to himself as he got back to work, a massive smile plastered across his face.