Spear of Destiny by James Baldwin (room on the broom read aloud txt) 📗

are starting to show. The capital city of Karhad is running low on food and medical supplies, and even worse, a woman has been isolated with a case of Thornlung, a contagious and often fatal disease that mostly affects young people. Thornlung is treatable, provided it is caught early and the right medicines are available.

The de-facto Mayor of Karhad has requested that you obtain the following staff and medical supplies for the city:

●     Healers [B-Grade or above] x 5

●     Green Moss x 1500

●     Valerian x 500

●     Concentrated Oil of Garlic x 500

●     Hyssop x 1000

●     Iguanodon Bile Salts x 200

Oof. Some of those ingredients were expensive. Still—I nodded, accepted, and reviewed the second quest:

  The Vaunted Halls of Karhad University

Karhad University, one of the oldest institutions of learning in Vlachia, was an early target of the Demon in his hunt for the Dragon Gate of Endless Night. When this city-within-a-city was breached, many staff were killed or captured, while others were tortured for information. Now, it is a ruined blight in the center of the city, walled off with barricades and full of criminals, feral animals, and worse.

Enter the university, clear out the rabble, and salvage what you can. Not only will you restore the heart of Karhad’s economy, you may discover long-lost knowledge that can be used to help your people in the present day.

Reward: 1249 EXP, 25 Build Points, Renown, Artifacts.

Bonus: Rebuild the University (168,000 olbia) to gain more rewards and renown, and unlock special facilities.

Sure. I’ll just rustle up nearly a quarter million olbia out of thin air. Nothing to it. I drew a deep, steadying breath, accepted that quest as well, and put the KMS away. “Alright. Is that all?”

“Well, Your Grace. There is the question of my position,” Bubek said. “With the city in the state it’s still in, an election is not yet possible-”

“Right. And you’re still acting Mayor until it IS possible,” I replied. “Emphasis on ‘acting’. You proposed an election, and I’m willing to go ahead with one after things are more stable. But we’ve got to get Karhad back on its feet first. Then we can put a call out, identify who wants to run, and you can compete against them based on merit.”

He deflated slightly. “Ah. But-”

“No buts. Handle yourself well and stop that plague from breaking out into the city, and you’re almost guaranteed to win,” I said briskly. “You can expect the herbs you need soon. Now, sorry to break this off, but I need to wrap up.”

“Indeed, Your Grace. Thank you.” He swept into another awkward, but genuine bow, and toddled off toward the door. Once he had left, Vash stepped forward again.

“Burna’s balls. Thornlung is the last thing we need.” He shook his head. “What a coincidence.”

“Coincidence?” I asked.

“Yes. The first day in fifteen years that I mention the existence of my sister, and Thornlung appears in the city,” he said. “It is a nasty disease. Swift and deadly. Breakouts of it in cities here are rare, but not unheard of.”

“She had it?”

“Yes. We all did.” A flash of something that might have been pain passed behind Vash’s dark gray eyes, and he grimaced. “You handled that well. Your cheeks are starting to fill out the pants of authority, eh?”

“They sure are,” I grunted, standing up. I smoothed my coat down. “He was testing me, wasn’t he? With the ‘why won’t you make me mayor?’ talk?”

“Yes. Though in truth, the idea of electing a mayor via popular vote is also radical change for Myszno, if not all of Vlachia. It is typical for them to be appointed by the ruling lord.” The Baru jerked his metal thumb toward the dining hall. “What comes now?”

“Now I go and study my map of Myszno and get a handle on the kind of terrain we’ll face in Bas,” I said. “I plan to blitz the place in a single day. Maybe two.”

“Solonovka is named the Fortress City for a reason.” Vash arched his eyebrows. “You think it will be that easy?”

“No.” I straightened the narrow silver band on my brow—the coronet of the Voivode. “But I promise you this. Fortress or not, we’re going to teach Zoltan Gallo the new motto of House Dragozin.”

“And what motto is that?” He asked wryly.

“The same one my division used in the Army.” I grinned back. “‘Fuck around and find out’.”

Chapter 12

The first thing I did after returning to my quarters was to go into the KMS and spend almost all of our hard-won money on two things we needed to make Myszno one of the wealthiest provinces in Vlachia.

A little over 20,000 olbia got us two destroyer-class airships from Litvy, medium-sized warships to replace the ones we’d lost battling the Demon. I couldn’t outfit them with high-quality magical shields yet, but they were fast, quiet, and able to carry a decent number of troops. I also put in an order for a team of high-level NPCs—a mage, an artificer, a Forgebrother of Khors, miners, and archeologists—to join us from the fair city of Boros. The team would be dispatched with the ships to Krivan Pass to begin the excavation of the Hall of Heroes. I assigned the Knights of the Red Star to supervise them. Of all the soldiers in my army, they had the highest morale, the most Renown, and the strictest vows of honor. They were also tough enough to keep any curious player characters at bay.

After the shopping spree, I surfed over to the interactive map of Myszno, and finally took a good, long, hard look at Bas County. Myszno had ten counties, with the population concentrated in only four of them: Litvy in the north-west, the ducal seat of Racsa in the center, Boros to the north-east, and Bas,