“What do the villages have at their disposal for troops?” I asked as I stared at the war map. Kharon had reached out with something that looked like a pen and circled the area that we were at.
“A few cohorts of professionally trained soldiers , few cohorts of goblin auxiliaries, and the various undead that are still loyal.”
I bobbed my head along as I listened to him speak. So, I had undead, presumably humans and goblins at my disposal. But that left a question, that needed to be answered. “Kharon, what exactly are goblins?”
“They are humanoid creatures that came about shortly after the calamity. The common goblin stands a head shorter than a human. But there are varieties that stand taller than most men. Usually they live in small tribes and in fighting keeps their numbers down immensely. But with the imp threat, a few tribes came to us for aid. After some time of intermingling, they have quickly proved themselves to be inquisitive and innovative.” He prattled off his response with practiced ease.
This would be very useful indeed. “What do you think of them, Kharon?” I crossed my arms and stared down at the map, trying to study all the minute details. I’ve already written off a vast portion of this map, as the focus now should be on the two villages and palace.
“They are great allies. But their caste system can be an issue at times. Though over the last few years, it’s been on a gradual decline.”
“Tell me about their caste system, Kharon.” The current world was becoming a little clearer to me. Maybe we have a chance against the growing imp horde. It would also be a lie to say that I wasn’t seeking knowledge. There was a certain thrill that I couldn’t describe when I learned something new.
“The leader of the goblins within our borders has taken the title of Marquise. Under that, there are the shamans and other various branch leaders. Then the military, researchers, merchants and vendors. At the very bottom are the menial labor goblins, though that is due more to their physique than anything else.”
My eyes stayed focused on the war map as I chewed on his words a bit. That was very interesting. “Is there any upward climb in the caste?”
“Yes. As long as there is drive, any goblin can climb the ranks regardless of circumstance.”
I bobbed my head and mentally filed the information away for later use. “What is the name of the Marquis?”
“Gnoik Steeltooth.”
I pulled my gaze up from the war map and towards Kharon. His red eyes seemed like dying embers that flickered in the wind. “What do you think about them?” The last major question that I had. After all, he has been here longer, and had a better understanding of everything.
“Most goblins are a disgusting race.” For the first time since I met him, I’ve never heard Kharon’s voice contain so much venom. “They are foul creatures that roam the countryside, and plunder what they see fit. I detest many of the goblin tribes. But, Gnoik’s tribe was different, so it was easy to see the merit in taking them in. They are a boon unlike any other. Yet sometimes they can be..” He paused for a second as he tried to find the right word. “A handful, as they are more inquisitive than most.”
“A handful, eh?” That was very curious indeed. I’d have to see this for myself. “Thank you for your help, Kharon. Regarding the Imp threat, what do you think we have at our disposal to combat them?”
“The goblins have created various war machines that will come in handy. Combine that with our engineering standards, our chances of survival increase drastically.” Kharon straightened up and reached into his flowing cloak, and withdrew another stack of paper. “Here is an omnibus of all the operable war machines the goblins have created. Though, I must warn you. Some of them are unorthodox.”
I took the stack of papers from him, while eying them curiously. I wonder what kind of war machines he was talking about. The stack though was rather heavy, though it made sense, with how thick it was. It also coincided with his statement about their inquisitive nature. In fact, I had a powerful feeling that if I opened this, I’d see stuff that could cause a great deal of war crimes. But I couldn’t deny that I was excited to see what lay within.
“I’ll review this later and I’ll let you know what I think. Can you identify and start having the military fortify key areas?” It was something that I didn’t know how to do. In fact, just staring at the map left me with some sense of confusion, as many of the areas were foreign to me. Even with the knowledge supplements that I had.
“Of course, my lady. I’ll have that done immediately. Would you also like me to arrange a meeting with all the important officials?” Kharon bowed slightly with his hand over his chest.
I held back a wince as I thought about it. I didn’t quite want to reveal myself yet to the greater world. But, I think it would be something that I had to do, eventually. This, however, was life or death. “Do what you think is best. Preferably, I will meet them in my throne room, so wait however long that takes.”
He nodded once before he vanished again, leaving me with all the supplies I had garnered in such a short amount of time. I strummed my fingers against the stack of papers and thought about everything. I felt a little better about everything. The anxiety, instead of overwhelming me, was now a small ball that sat deep within my mind. It was there, but I could easily focus on other things.
“Empress, Captain Syn reports that they have cleared a path to the throne room and are currently engaging with the imp forces there. I am to escort you to the throne room so you can take your rightful seat.” Theodora broke the silence and stepped forward into view. Each of her steps was filled with a serpentine grace that mingled with that of a dancer.
“But if he just engaged with them, how will it be safe for me? Also, how did you two communicate across such an enormous distance?” I felt my face scrunch up in confusion at the thought.
“Empress, we are the best soldiers in the empire. No one can compare to us. Not even the former heros.. Also, to answer your question.” Theodora reached into a small pocket on her thigh and pulled out a small grey rock that was held by a simple piece of twine. “It’s a communications stone. Just send a pulse of mana through it, and it will connect to its sibling stone.”
“As lovely as that sounds, I no longer have access to mana.” I flashed her a smile to reassure her that everything was alright. Not that I was bothered by it or anything. It didn’t mean all that much to me, since I didn’t have too much time tied up into it. Perhaps there was a touch of disappointment, since I could experience nothing great with it. But that was a fleeting feeling.
“My grace, you must be distraught.” The stone dangled from Theodora’s hands for a split second longer, before it vanished back into her armor. “I apologize.”
“It’s no problem Theo. You didn’t know.” I waved my hand dismissively at her as I reached down and gathered all the pieces of paper on the ground. This here was my lifeline. I needed to make sure that I had everything memorized, and the future planned out accordingly. Plus, once the throne room was taken back, I would finally have a place that I could settle into and study, instead of just sitting in this meditation chamber.
As I was gathering it, though, I came to a sudden conclusion. How was I going to carry all of this stuff safely? I didn’t have a bag or anything, so that only left me carrying it by hand. Which was enough to annoy me just a touch.
“If you like, Empress, you are more than welcome to use my holding realm if you don’t want to carry anything.” The armored woman stepped up, and she made a gesture. The air split apart as if a dagger had made a clean slash, and a void opened in its wake.
“Wow, that’s so cool!” I leaned forward and stared into the void. Purple radiance shone through the cracks as if they were rays of sunlight and bled into the ambient air. It was a realm of holding, huh? I had a faint idea of what it was. If my memories were correct, a realm of holding was the highest tier of storage type magic. While the memories were not my own, that did nothing to sway me from the interest I held. I needed to see it all with my own eyes and have my own thoughts about it. It was a hunger that was coiled deep within my chest, and it was ready to lash out at any moment, to devour any scrap of information that I could.
“What do the villages have at their disposal for troops?” I asked as I stared at the war map. Kharon had reached out with something that looked like a pen and circled the area that we were at.
“A few cohorts of professionally trained soldiers , few cohorts of goblin auxiliaries, and the various undead that are still loyal.”
I bobbed my head along as I listened to him speak. So, I had undead, presumably humans and goblins at my disposal. But that left a question, that needed to be answered. “Kharon, what exactly are goblins?”
“They are humanoid creatures that came about shortly after the calamity. The common goblin stands a head shorter than a human. But there are varieties that stand taller than most men. Usually they live in small tribes and in fighting keeps their numbers down immensely. But with the imp threat, a few tribes came to us for aid. After some time of intermingling, they have quickly proved themselves to be inquisitive and innovative.” He prattled off his response with practiced ease.
This would be very useful indeed. “What do you think of them, Kharon?” I crossed my arms and stared down at the map, trying to study all the minute details. I’ve already written off a vast portion of this map, as the focus now should be on the two villages and palace.
“They are great allies. But their caste system can be an issue at times. Though over the last few years, it’s been on a gradual decline.”
“Tell me about their caste system, Kharon.” The current world was becoming a little clearer to me. Maybe we have a chance against the growing imp horde. It would also be a lie to say that I wasn’t seeking knowledge. There was a certain thrill that I couldn’t describe when I learned something new.
“The leader of the goblins within our borders has taken the title of Marquise. Under that, there are the shamans and other various branch leaders. Then the military, researchers, merchants and vendors. At the very bottom are the menial labor goblins, though that is due more to their physique than anything else.”
My eyes stayed focused on the war map as I chewed on his words a bit. That was very interesting. “Is there any upward climb in the caste?”
“Yes. As long as there is drive, any goblin can climb the ranks regardless of circumstance.”
I bobbed my head and mentally filed the information away for later use. “What is the name of the Marquis?”
“Gnoik Steeltooth.”
I pulled my gaze up from the war map and towards Kharon. His red eyes seemed like dying embers that flickered in the wind. “What do you think about them?” The last major question that I had. After all, he has been here longer, and had a better understanding of everything.
“Most goblins are a disgusting race.” For the first time since I met him, I’ve never heard Kharon’s voice contain so much venom. “They are foul creatures that roam the countryside, and plunder what they see fit. I detest many of the goblin tribes. But, Gnoik’s tribe was different, so it was easy to see the merit in taking them in. They are a boon unlike any other. Yet sometimes they can be..” He paused for a second as he tried to find the right word. “A handful, as they are more inquisitive than most.”
“A handful, eh?” That was very curious indeed. I’d have to see this for myself. “Thank you for your help, Kharon. Regarding the Imp threat, what do you think we have at our disposal to combat them?”
“The goblins have created various war machines that will come in handy. Combine that with our engineering standards, our chances of survival increase drastically.” Kharon straightened up and reached into his flowing cloak, and withdrew another stack of paper. “Here is an omnibus of all the operable war machines the goblins have created. Though, I must warn you. Some of them are unorthodox.”
I took the stack of papers from him, while eying them curiously. I wonder what kind of war machines he was talking about. The stack though was rather heavy, though it made sense, with how thick it was. It also coincided with his statement about their inquisitive nature. In fact, I had a powerful feeling that if I opened this, I’d see stuff that could cause a great deal of war crimes. But I couldn’t deny that I was excited to see what lay within.
“I’ll review this later and I’ll let you know what I think. Can you identify and start having the military fortify key areas?” It was something that I didn’t know how to do. In fact, just staring at the map left me with some sense of confusion, as many of the areas were foreign to me. Even with the knowledge supplements that I had.
“Of course, my lady. I’ll have that done immediately. Would you also like me to arrange a meeting with all the important officials?” Kharon bowed slightly with his hand over his chest.
I held back a wince as I thought about it. I didn’t quite want to reveal myself yet to the greater world. But, I think it would be something that I had to do, eventually. This, however, was life or death. “Do what you think is best. Preferably, I will meet them in my throne room, so wait however long that takes.”
He nodded once before he vanished again, leaving me with all the supplies I had garnered in such a short amount of time. I strummed my fingers against the stack of papers and thought about everything. I felt a little better about everything. The anxiety, instead of overwhelming me, was now a small ball that sat deep within my mind. It was there, but I could easily focus on other things.
“Empress, Captain Syn reports that they have cleared a path to the throne room and are currently engaging with the imp forces there. I am to escort you to the throne room so you can take your rightful seat.” Theodora broke the silence and stepped forward into view. Each of her steps was filled with a serpentine grace that mingled with that of a dancer.
“But if he just engaged with them, how will it be safe for me? Also, how did you two communicate across such an enormous distance?” I felt my face scrunch up in confusion at the thought.
“Empress, we are the best soldiers in the empire. No one can compare to us. Not even the former heros.. Also, to answer your question.” Theodora reached into a small pocket on her thigh and pulled out a small grey rock that was held by a simple piece of twine. “It’s a communications stone. Just send a pulse of mana through it, and it will connect to its sibling stone.”
“As lovely as that sounds, I no longer have access to mana.” I flashed her a smile to reassure her that everything was alright. Not that I was bothered by it or anything. It didn’t mean all that much to me, since I didn’t have too much time tied up into it. Perhaps there was a touch of disappointment, since I could experience nothing great with it. But that was a fleeting feeling.
“My grace, you must be distraught.” The stone dangled from Theodora’s hands for a split second longer, before it vanished back into her armor. “I apologize.”
“It’s no problem Theo. You didn’t know.” I waved my hand dismissively at her as I reached down and gathered all the pieces of paper on the ground. This here was my lifeline. I needed to make sure that I had everything memorized, and the future planned out accordingly. Plus, once the throne room was taken back, I would finally have a place that I could settle into and study, instead of just sitting in this meditation chamber.
As I was gathering it, though, I came to a sudden conclusion. How was I going to carry all of this stuff safely? I didn’t have a bag or anything, so that only left me carrying it by hand. Which was enough to annoy me just a touch.
“If you like, Empress, you are more than welcome to use my holding realm if you don’t want to carry anything.” The armored woman stepped up, and she made a gesture. The air split apart as if a dagger had made a clean slash, and a void opened in its wake.
“Wow, that’s so cool!” I leaned forward and stared into the void. Purple radiance shone through the cracks as if they were rays of sunlight and bled into the ambient air. It was a realm of holding, huh? I had a faint idea of what it was. If my memories were correct, a realm of holding was the highest tier of storage type magic. While the memories were not my own, that did nothing to sway me from the interest I held. I needed to see it all with my own eyes and have my own thoughts about it. It was a hunger that was coiled deep within my chest, and it was ready to lash out at any moment, to devour any scrap of information that I could.
