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Sommerzeit -19-2493
I had won solid victories, thanks in large part to the mercenary soldiery fighting for me in exchange for the gold I had scraped together to pay their wages. Hiring mercenaries in this region turned out to be much cheaper than one would expect: they were used to being paid in debased coin, so payment in Imperial currency cost only a fraction of what a sellsword would demand in the Empire. Before long, I had gathered a respectable mercenary army under my command.
The only drawback was that I had to begin learning Tilean—at least the basics—since many mercenary companies spoke nothing else. There were Imperial and Bretonnian contingents in the region as well, but even so I managed to keep a thirty-thousand-strong mercenary host with relative ease. Paying them in crowns and in genuine gold and silver coins made their captains lower their demands, giving me plenty of leverage in negotiations.
That was how I drew more mercenaries to my side: it wasn't hard to convince them when seven major cities of the Princes had fallen in record time. That streak placed me in an extremely advantageous position.
With a mercenary army that quickly replenished itself with each new wave of recruits, I conquered the last five cities I needed to fulfill my territorial ambitions in the Principalities. We crushed the armies of Styratia; the city surrendered soon after, once its mercenaries fled and most of its troops lay dead. The lord opened the gates and yielded—his culture was more cohesive and he refused to see his people suffer through a drawn-out siege, something I appreciated.
With mercenary aid, we marched south and seized Broska, where a self-proclaimed Bretonnian duke ruled whom no one recognized. The city was small and its forces did not exceed a thousand, but resistance was immediate: with a Bretonnian leader at their head, they decided to fight until their walls fell under a brief pounding from my cannons. The duke then challenged me to single combat: whoever won would keep the city; if I lost, I had to withdraw. I struck him square in the chest with my mace, breaking his ribs and leaving him dead; thus they proclaimed me lord of the city, and I secured the river as my western frontier, for there were no major settlements beyond.
I mobilized the people: they were all concentrated into Gloom Forest. Together, the cities amounted to nearly a quarter of a million souls, and now they had to labor and settle along the new frontier. With mercenaries scattered to guard rivers and cleanse the forests of goblins, the region was relatively secure.
Yet the wildlife stirred: the forest fire had driven many species into motion. Wolf packs were sighted in the area, and rains out of season swelled the rivers, flooding some minor villages—fortunately already abandoned. The rain halted us for a week; when it finally ceased, mud was everywhere, slowing our advance south.
We came across a clan dwelling in a network of caves; when the rains hit, they retreated deeper. We sealed the entrances with soaked logs and set a massive fire that filled the caverns with smoke. The beasts came out in waves, choking and desperate, and we slaughtered them in great numbers without much effort—they were cornered and wiped out with ruthless efficiency.
From there we struck the city of Vitrolle, which fell in two days. A devastating cannon bombardment against one section of the walls, followed by a general assault by the mercenaries, ended resistance swiftly. The cruelty of the mercenary host did the rest: the sack lasted three days and left the city in ruins.
Much of Vitrolle was burned, the shops of the merchants looted, and numerous women violated. I had no interest in stopping the carnage; the violence served as an example. As word of the disaster spread, two nearby, larger cities—Zenres and Mirstadt—opened their gates and surrendered to avoid Vitrolle's fate.
The northern confederation collapsed rapidly. No one came to the aid of the cities before my army: until then, only envoys had arrived, hoping that as an Imperial emissary I would recognize them as rightful lords of their lands. They treated me as their ticket to political legitimacy rather than the threat I was to them.
But with the fall of those three cities, I had struck gold. Another quarter of a million peasants were seized and sent to the region I had designated for the building of new towns and farmlands.
This area carried an additional value: many Cathayan trade caravans passed through. Apparently, it was safer to cross vast stretches of land than to risk the seas, where piracy held sway enough to force such a vast empire to prefer land routes. And here, near Mad Dog Pass, was one of the most traveled paths for their merchants.
Each month hundreds, perhaps thousands, of traders from the Eastern Empire crossed these roads, paying generous tolls to keep them free of greenskins. In recent years, however, that had become far harder: the fall of hundreds of Karaks and the decline of Dawi power made protection more difficult. That didn't stop the merchants from trying; they simply traveled with larger armed contingents and paid less for passage.
Even so, the profits were immense. Zenres and Mirstadt held enormous reserves of Cathayan gold coins, such vast hoards that even I was astonished. Their lords were immensely wealthy, but instead of investing in walls and defenses they preferred to pay adventurers and mercenary bands. When I arrived, that choice backfired: the companies fled en masse and the cities surrendered.
"This business of being a conqueror is taking its toll on me… I do not feel sleep from the ring, but I feel defeated," I murmured, gazing at my conquests spread across the map.
"Those towns you conquered lack strength and unity, and for now everything is in your favor. The question is: how much further will you try to conquer before your ambition turns against you?" said Katarin, watching me as I rested in the lord's chair of Zenres.
"I don't know… I only know that, for now, I've secured the Imperial zone. What's left is to start building a railway line between the Empire and Karaz-a-Karak. With this region secured, we could dedicate it exclusively to trade with the dawi—or better yet, place a station here in Zenres to funnel the merchants of Cathay toward the Empire. Those wretches carry deep purses; they'd pay a fortune for the chance," I replied.
Katarin rubbed her forehead wearily and let out a heavy sigh. "You like to make plans everywhere, but you rarely focus on maintaining them," she said.
"I just try to keep myself busy, that's the truth. Look: my gold is finite, and at this rate, I'll be out of money by next year. I have to seek new sources of income, and these tolls could be part of the solution. Just look at this: a single Cathayan caravan paid the equivalent of twelve thousand gold crowns… one caravan, and thousands come every year. Do you realize? It's a gold mine. All we need is to fortify the area, clear the greenskin tribes from the mountains, and wipe out the goblin forests—just as the mercenaries are doing—and we'll have a region that generates great sums to be used within the Empire," I said with a smile.
"You could do all of that in Kislev. There you'll find the same problems you've pointed out, only multiplied: mutants, Chaos cultists… you'll be more than busy," Katarin replied.
"I know, my dear betrothed… I think you've already told me a hundred times," I answered with a grin, meeting her gaze.
"I'm only fulfilling my duty by reminding you of your promises to Kislev," she said.
"I have it very clear, Katarin…" I replied, pulling out a letter I had received not long ago, the one that would silence her daily claims about my duty to Kislev and her homeland. "The railway to the Kislevite border is almost finished… and they've already started construction further into Kislev. So, once we secure this, we'll return to tend to Kislev and see to what you desire so much—along with delivering that shipment of weapons I promised you," I added, handing her the letter.
"Finally, good news… when do we leave for Kislev?" asked Katarin, showing genuine happiness for a moment before resuming her icy-princess façade.
"We could already return… but I'd have to leave this place well administered and enough forces behind to defend it. Mercenaries aren't cheap, and you can't trust them with fortress garrisons; they'd be the first to sell them to my enemies. So probably next month, once everything is settled and I'm sure the area is secure," I replied.
"Let's hope it works out sooner than you imagine," said Katarin.
"Yes. Well, I'll leave you now: I have a meeting with Grimm and I want to be ready to see a new weapon," I said, rising and preparing to depart.
"A new weapon?… may I come?" Katarin asked, intrigued.
"I suppose you might find what we're working on interesting. It's only a prototype, so it could fail; don't get your hopes too high," I answered.
We quickly gathered our things and traveled to the outskirts of Zenres, to one of the hills bordering a greenskin tribe. We had mobilized many men to secure the area, and soon we met with the dawi engineer.
"Here it is, umgi… just as you asked: a breech-loading musket firing the ammunition you gave me, with the magnifying sights you requested. I hope it's the weapon you imagined. I've already run safety tests, so it shouldn't blow your face off… I hope," said Grimm, handing me a double-barreled rifle. I pushed the breech forward, loaded two large cartridges, and knelt to aim.
Through the magnifying sights I could see my target much more clearly: a goblin moving some three or four hundred meters away, lifting stones, perhaps searching for food. I gripped the weapon tightly, ready for the powerful recoil I knew the cartridge would deliver.
When the goblin stopped, I drew a deep breath, set my eye to the scope, and pulled one of the two triggers. I felt a kick in my shoulder; the recoil struck hard, but it wasn't unbearable. Through the sight I saw the goblin fall with a massive hole in its chest.
"It works… I think it's fine. The problem will be the stock: it has too much power. Unless the shooter is wearing runic armor or has a lot of experience with firearms, the weapon kicks far too hard. We might want to look into reducing the charge to make it easier to fire… though hundreds of these could still be produced for use against larger enemies," I said, aiming again as a group of greenskins approached, drawn by the noise.
My focus fixed on an orc much larger than the rest, charging with a great axe. I pulled the second trigger, and part of its skull vanished instantly.
"Yes… it works well against large targets, but it demands a lot of control," I added, sliding two more cartridges into the barrels. "Shotguns forward," I ordered my men as I kept firing at the greenskins from the hill, while they waited in position with their shotguns.
"It could serve to bring down champions of the Dark Gods. They wear heavy armor when they attack Kislev, and only our finest warriors or the strongest ice witches can bring them down. This might be useful in Kislev," said Katarin.
"We'll keep that in mind… Well, Grimm: if you make a hundred of these, we'll store them. But I need something of smaller caliber and less recoil—something closer to a musket, maybe a little larger. This thing is for killing giants, almost," I answered.
"I'll see what I can do," replied Grimm, and we began to withdraw as the sounds of the shotguns continued tearing through the greenskins farther down the hill.
Meanwhile, I turned to planning an administration system for this place, for several fortresses had to be garrisoned, and I had no desire to rely too much on the locals for recruitment.
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If there are spelling mistakes, please let me know.
Leave a comment; support is always appreciated.
I remind you to leave your ideas or what you would like to see.
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