Valkyrie's Shadow

Winter's Crown: Act 3, Chapter 5

Winter's Crown: Act 3, Chapter 5

Chapter 5

The door to her solar clicked shut, and Ludmila released a sigh. She removed her mantle, wrinkling her nose slightly as everything she desperately tried to contain within wafted out. Hopefully, no one had noticed…well, there was no chanceLady Aura and Merry wouldn’t have noticed. She went to her dressing mirror, frowning over the sweat and grime that came with the Gold-rank examination, plus one death. At least she didn’t soil herself.

That particular bit of unpleasantness was first encountered when Adventurers started dying in training, much to their postmortem mortification. Following the spread of the discovery, everyone made sure to relieve themselves before training and keep meals beforehand light. It hadn’t happened to her yet; hopefully, it would stay that way.

She stripped off her arming doublet, hopped out of her pants and undid her undergarments. Padding over to the steaming bathtub, she dipped in her toe experimentally before stepping in and lowering herself into the water. There were no aches and pains to soak away, as the resurrection made her former conditions nonexistent, but she enjoyed the pleasant sensation nonetheless.

Aemilia came in behind her with a pail and started rinsing out Ludmila’s hair.

“How was your afternoon at the cathedral?” Ludmila asked.

“To be honest, my lady, I think I fell asleep halfway,” Aemilia answered. “That dusty old crone lecturing the Acolytes is a hundred times drier than Nonna.”

Ludmila tried to imagine what that was like…nope, she couldn’t.

“What was the lecture about?” She asked, “That you can remember.”

“Today was only one part of the lecture, actually,” Aemilia answered. “Part six out of twenty-four, a series exploring the divine mandates of the temple, the tenets of the scriptures, and how they factor into the preeminence of humanity.”

“I think I remember that,” Ludmila said. “Sophia and I had to take turns waking each other up. Maybe this ‘dusty old crone’ is one of Bohdan’s classmates.”

“She couldn’t be older than sixty,” Aemilia replied. “Did you learn any magic at the end of all these lectures?”

“No,” Ludmila let out a short laugh. “It was actually part of the regular education in the village. For those that could stomach it, at least. I think most of my classmates ran off, preferring to help out with their families’ work instead. Sophia became an Acolyte, but no one else did.”

“Uehhh…do they really have to teach this? I mean, I get it, but at the same time I don’t – everything covered in those lectures seems a bit out of step with our lives here.”

“The foundational studies exist for a reason,” Ludmila told her. “By understanding the core principles and tenets of our faith, we can apply them to our current lives. If we rely on second-hand interpretations, time and change will gradually result in blindness and corruption in our system of beliefs. We would be following reflections and shadows cast by the light, believing that they are the light itself.”

“It sounds like you understand this more than I ever will, my lady,” Aemilia said with a pout. “Why is it that you never learned divine magic?”

“My parents actually thought it would be a good idea when I was very young,” Ludmila said, “but I had no potential for magic. Now, I just poke holes in things like the rest of my family did.”

“You’re extraordinarily good at that, my lady,” Aemilia said. “I never get tired of watching you practice – it’s beyond anything that I could have ever imagined.”

“Ogres with sticks beg to differ,” she replied sardonically.

She gingerly felt her side where the staff had struck her. Of course, there was no sense that the injury had ever been there.

“I’m sure you’ll beat them soon, my lady. No stupid Ogre can stop you for long.”

“I certainly hope so,” she replied. “I am of no use if I keep losing all of the progress that I make.”

Ludmila rose from her bath, towelled off and made her way over to the dressing mirror. Two dresses were displayed on mannequins nearby. The first was a comfortable outfit that she favoured for her evening studies; the second, a more formal selection for entertaining important guests. The latter was a new piece, supposedly tailored in a fashion popular down in the Theocracy. Aemilia had it made with the reasoning that, when trade resumed, a follower of the Six Great Gods would have an advantage in dealing with merchants from the south and would thus use garments appropriate to interactions with visitors from the south.

Unfortunately, the few caravans that had trickled in from the Theocracy never stopped in E-Rantel – they went straight through the Sorcerous Kingdom, making as few stops as possible along the way. She eyed the folds of grey satin as they shimmered dimly in the light. It was something she thought more suited to Clara than herself: displaying very little in terms of embellishment and simple in form, so it would take someone like her friend to cut a glamorous figure out of it. When Ludmila had first tried it on, she thought her reflection reminiscent of a stone column draped in an empty banner.

“Let’s go with the more comfortable piece,” she said. “Lord Mare is here on some business that may take much longer than dinner.”

Half an hour later, Ludmila came down the stairs and found Lord Mare inspecting the small cluster of shrubs and trees in the courtyard.

“Apologies for my delay, Lord Mare,” Ludmila said as she approached him. “Is there something that has caught your interest?”

“Do you have any of these plants around your home?” He asked.

“Those are all native to the area,” she answered, “so there should be more than a few.”

Lord Mare tilted his head upwards, scanning the roof surrounding the courtyard.

“There’s a Hanzo up there, I think?”

“Yes, my lord.”

“Okay.”

Lord Mare looked down at his shadow, and five Hanzos came out of it at his call.

“Um…you four guard the manor,” he motioned with his staff loosely, “and you can check around the other side. Come back here when you’re done.”

The Hanzos split up, and one of them stepped into one of the shrubs. Nothing happened. Lord Mare frowned momentarily.

“Whoops, that’s right – teleportation doesn’t work in this part of the city…hmm. Just run there, I guess?”

The final Hanzo leapt up to the rooftop and streaked away.

“Luzi,” Ludmila looked to her side, “check on how Mrs Ro’eh is doing. Go ahead and help her out if we’re not ready yet.”

“Yes, my lady.”

Ludmila stepped into the courtyard with Lord Mare, and she addressed him after Aemilia disappeared into the kitchen.

“What was it that you wished to discuss, my lord?”

“There’s something I would like your help with,” he told her. “I want to set up the first training expedition for the Adventurer Guild, but there are some things I don’t know about…Shalltear said you would be able to.”

“Without knowing what the specifics are,” Ludmila replied, “it would be irresponsible for me to give you a definitive answer. I’ll gladly help you in any way I can if I am in a position to do so.”

“T-then…”

Lord Mare reached into his inventory and pulled out a folder. He tilted his head to read the label before holding it out to her. Ludmila received it and flipped through the contents: it was a brief summary of an expedition to the small forest north of Warden’s Vale, complete with an extraordinary map that she assumed was a creation of Lady Aura.

“You’ve learned Re-Estize script?” Ludmila absently noted as she read over the pages, “Your handwriting is very neat.”

“Most of it,” Mare nodded. “Numbers, too. E-everyone working around the Sorcerous Kingdom knows now.”

“I see…”

It took several minutes for her to skim over the pages and, by the time she finished, Aemilia was approaching them from the dining room. They followed her in to be seated, but Ludmila decided that, rather than sit at the head of the table as the host, she would sit on one side of the table across from Lord Mare so they could discuss his work.

“Luzi, bring in some stationery from the office,” Ludmila said. “Let Mrs Ro’eh know that we’ll be taking our time with the meal.”

“Yes, my lady.”

They settled themselves onto their seats, and Ludmila spread out the contents of the folder to the side. The format of the expedition system remained unchanged from when Ishpen had explained it to her upon joining. Five six-member parties, similar to those used in the Training Area, with a sixth party in reserve for specialized functions.

“This formation has me listed in the sixth party,” Ludmila noted. “I’m not qualified to attend an expedition, neither will I have the time to participate when this has been scheduled: I’ll be overseeing the harvest in my demesne.”

“I-it’s something that I want to update,” Lord Mare explained. “This is a, uh…domestic expedition, meaning that the sixth team will be seated with local interests. In this exercise, you’d be a noble commissioning a development survey for some nearby land.”

“So the purpose of this exercise is not only to start training the Adventurer Guild for expeditions but also to demonstrate how they can be used practically by the Sorcerous Kingdom.”

Lord Mare nodded empathically.

“How far would you like for me to carry out this role, my lord?” Ludmila asked.

“Everything you can think of,” Lord Mare answered. “What a noble would want to use the land for, resources that they value, stuff to look out for…”

“Should I involve the Guilds as well?”

“That would be good. We’ll be using this training to come up with procedures for all of the stuff that goes on surrounding the expeditions.”

The sound of steps whispering over the floor announced the arrival of their meal. Rather than being served in courses as other nobles might have done, it was simple fare that arrived as a single one. Unlike some weeks before, however, her household was starting to employ magic items.

Sometime after the trip to Fassett County, after she had settled into familiar routines again, Ludmila started shopping around for the same conveniences that House Wagner displayed on their journey. Aemilia laid two large, rectangular containers on the end of the table, while Terah brought in a large pot. All three items were enchanted to preserve their contents, as well as maintain the temperature within.

The pot contained steaming village stew, while the containers held cool, crisp greens and freshly baked bread. It was Ludmila’s preferred meal with her busy schedule, and the items kept everything as if they were just prepared no matter how long she took to get through meals as she worked, or how late she was coming back. A small part of her voiced criticism over the idea that magical items were being used to serve such an unassuming meal, but she paid it little mind.

“Oh, it’s like a mini-buffet,” Lord Mare remarked.

“Nothing so fabulous, I’m afraid,” Ludmila smiled slightly. “It’s quite simple, but there’s always enough to satisfy the appetite.”

Lord Mare tore up a roll of bread, dropping the pieces into the stew that was served to him. He idly munched on his salad while waiting for the bread to fully soak itself. Back when he came to Warden’s Vale to raise the foundations of the first farming village, Ludmila was shocked and somewhat amused to find out that he had his stew the same way that she did.

“Does this training scenario mean that you’ll be opening up the Adventurer Guild to be commissioned by nobles for local surveys?” Ludmila asked.

“I’m not too sure about that, actually,” Lord Mare answered. “Most of the unmanaged lands are in the southwest of the duchy, close to yours. The rest is already claimed…maybe in the future?”

“It might not sit well with the Adventurers if their expeditions are used as groundwork for expansion into foreign lands,” Ludmila said. “I think it’s one of the primary objections that were made when Guildmaster Ainzach presented his proposal. The Adventurers didn’t like the idea that they might be used as a vanguard for hostile expansion.”

“Mister Ainzach says stuff like that too. For now, I’d just like to have everything ready since we have the chance to prepare.”

“I’ll work with that in mind, then. To begin with, we’ll have to figure out the logistics of this, starting from the expeditionary camp. Hm…is that why you asked me about the plants in the courtyard?”

“Un,” Lord Mare nodded. “I sent out that Hanzo to check the location that I wanted for the camp. He should be back before we’re done.”

Ludmila looked over to the side, studying the details of the expedition again. The forest that was its target was slightly smaller than her own demesne, minus the recent extension to accommodate the Krkonoše. Covering an area of roughly 1600 square kilometres, it would take several weeks for the expedition’s scouts to map in detail. Given that it was the first training expedition, and that the activities would also be unfamiliar to all involved, chances were that it would take over a month.

“A full survey for an area like this seems a lengthy process,” Ludmila said. “If you include the study of local inhabitants and any ruins or strange findings, it could run for many months.”

“Is the forest inhabited?”

“No, it shouldn’t be. House Zahradnik removed anything aggressive to Humans in the nearby lands generations ago and has kept an eye on them ever since. It should only be the local wildlife – if there’s any threat to the surrounding Human lands there, it would have to have moved in recently.”

“What’s the worst you think they’ll find in there?”

“Hm…most of the wildlife is equivalent to a Silver-rank at best, and most will avoid any Humans that they detect. The greatest threats would probably be Forest Worms…or maybe some nests of Hanging Spiders in the deeper areas? They don’t leave the forest, however, and they don’t usually go out of their way to harass travellers. Lone scouts should be able to easily avoid disturbing them, and a full Gold-rank expedition won’t encounter any difficulties overall unless individual teams are overly careless.”

Lord Mare nodded slowly at her words. He finished another mouthful of stew before speaking again.

“That sounds good. There’s a real expedition coming up, so I don’t want to lose anyone on the roster doing something risky. We just need to make sure that everyone knows what they’re doing, and everything supporting the expeditions is working.”

“I hadn’t heard – has this been made public, yet?”

“No,” Lord Mare replied. “It won’t be, either. They’ll be starting from the Great Lake in Tob Forest and heading north into the Azerlisia Mountains. The main objective is to survey a route for a new highway.”

“The one to Feoh Raizo? Won’t Frost Giants be an issue?”

“I-it’s something like a bonus objective? To make contact with them, I mean. According to a few of our sources and that rumour going around, they’re more interested in fighting than talking…”

Ludmila only knew bits and pieces about Giants in general, but the rumours Mare spoke of did match up. Perhaps it was a part of why the rumours circulating through the merchant networks had become so prevalent. Hill Giants, which might occasionally be found in the lowlands, were possessed of poor intelligence and Gold-ranked Adventurer teams could safely single them out to be removed by exploiting their dim-wittedness. Frost Giants, on the other hand, were about as intelligent as Humans, crafted their own equipment and individually required teams of Mithril-ranked Adventurers to handle at the least.

Even if the expedition had the four members of Rainbow amongst their number, she sincerely doubted they could fight Frost Giants. Between the difficult terrain and the stated nature of their kind, it was more likely that the Adventurers would be smashed.

“I’m not exactly an expert on Frost Giants, but, as you’ve mentioned, I feel that any ‘contact’ with them will end in disaster. Is there a reason why such a risk is being taken?”

“We decided that it was worth an attempt at diplomacy, first,” Lord Mare said. “If we just wipe them out, we might miss out on something useful.”

That was that, then. Though the Adventurers would almost certainly be crushed if things took a hostile turn, it was considered an acceptable risk by the Royal Court. It would be a devastating loss, save for the fact that the entire expedition could be recovered, resurrected and retrained in short order. Ludmila idly mused over whether this was how any powerful nation with readily available resurrection magic functioned, or if it was something unique to the Sorcerous Kingdom.

Not that she had any real say on the matter. Her own small part was to help lay out how a portion of their protocols would function, so that was exactly what she would do.

“I see,” she said. “In that case, let’s start working out the specifics of this training expedition.”