Chapter 4 - Kaisersgrenze

Chapter 4

Salran Mountains, Starnor Imperial Border Territories

Approaching the town of Kaisersgrenze

Lenna looked out the window the carriage and smiled as the forest gave way to well tended fields.

Back home at last.

There had been no other incidents during their journey, thank the Divines. Although to be fair, even if there had been it would have been unlikely to matter all that much. She stole a glance at the resting great dragon opposite her seat in the carriage, before going back to looking outside. The dragon didn't look like much, dressed as she was in travel clothes, but Lenna knew better. Great dragons were mighty in their original form, yes, but even their human appearance boasted superhuman strength and resilience.

She debated waking her travelling companion up, before Airah simply opened her eyes, startling the baroness.

"Have we arrived?" Said the dragon as she stretched, and Lenna nodded.

"We're arriving at the outskirts of the town now." The fields were mostly on the other side of the Virtani river, which currently bisected the town. It was simply safer that way, as while bandits could be incredibly bold, the ones stupid enough to try to pillage and plunder with a river at their backs tended to die fairly quickly. There were bold bandits, and old bandits, but no old, bold bandits. "Was your rest satisfactory."

"It was." The dragon stretched her neck. "So, I suppose we'll discuss my reward once we are inside the town proper?"

"That would be better." Lenna smiled. "If nothing else I think my guard captain would be considerably relieved by having friendly walls around us."

"Your settlement is walled?"

"Yes." Lenna puffed her chest proudly. "Not many frontier towns can say the same, but its name means 'the Emperor's border' in our ancestral tongue. It was actually a frontier outpost, back in the days of conquest and expansion, the furthest extent of the Empire." She sighed. "It was supposed to be but a stepping stone, but times have changed, and the Empire's concerns have turned inwards. It has evolved into a town, sure, not just the glorified fortified waystation it once was, but the region is still as wild as it ever was."

"Right." Airah shifted. "So tell me, what is a lady such as yourself doing in a forgotten backwater like this?"

Lenna chuckled.

"Someone needs to rule over the province, even if it is just untouched forests and infested with bandits. And that someone has to be of noble blood of course. My family suffered some...setbacks a few generations ago. We backed the wrong candidate to become emperor, and the repercussions were quite severe. Fortunately the new emperor was magnanimous, and let us keep our titles of nobility, if we took over the region. And here I am."

"Seems a bit harsh."

"The alternative was the chopping block."

"Fair enough." Airah looked outside as the carriage rolled around, and the town finally came into view. "So who are the bandits preying on? I mean, I get that they'd attack villages, travellers and farmers, but this doesn't seem like an area that could support a lot of banditry."

"You would be surprised. We might not be rich, but we are not poor either. The land is fertile, although removing rocks to tend to the fields properly is time consuming. And the surrounding woods are rich in all manners of animals and creatures, many of which bear belts that are prized in the Empire. Thus we subsist. Besides, there is a fair bit of trade with the Republic, although caravans are usually well armed."

"The Republic?"

Lenna chuckled.

"You didn't do much research before coming here, did you?" She said, smiling at the dragon, who smiled back. It had been taking a risk, as Airah could well have taken offense, but despite her speech it appeared the dragon wasn't necessarily as overly formal as she'd believed.

"I was in a hurry." A shadow fell over them as they passed through the gate, and barely a minute afterwards the carriage stopped. "Well, it looks like we have arrived. To business then?"

"Of course!"

*****

Airah stepped out as the guard opened the door, and Lenna gestured for her to come out first.

She nodded in thanks, and stepped out into the sun. Now that she wasn't constrained by the frankly terrible windows -portholes really- of the carriage, she could take in the town in full.

It looked...not like what she expected. Oh, there were stone and wooden buildings, as well as garishly painted shop signs, but not the filfth and trash synonymous with the middle ages' idea of sanitation. Instead everything was clean, well as clean as any city with humans would ever be, and there were even what looked like to be manhole covers, possibly leading into a sewer system.

That was significantly better than what she'd expected.

They apparently had stopped in some kind of central plazza, one side of which was taken by a massive building, which given the small group of very well armed soldiers in front of it, as well as it's distinctly stately architecture, and discreet fortifications, had to be Lenna's castle. Or manor. Whatever they called it, it must be the center of power there.

Most of the shops around the plazza appeared to be more higher end as well. Fine cloths, spirits, and even what looked like some kind library. The latter especially caught her attention, because a library advertising its presence meant historical texts, and maybe even maps and magic books. Or at least something to shore up her hopelessly incomplete briefing package.

She'd gone over it with Stellyra during the trip, and damn had it sucked. Oh, she believed the information in it was accurate, but it was clearly put together in a hurry, with little regard for proper indexation, and most of it was either irrelevant or frustratingly incomplete. There were several sections they hadn't had the time to go through, particularly pertaining to the more complicated aspects of great dragons, but they were next on the list of a review once they had more quiet time to tackle it.

Uh, Ari? Said Stellyra over their mind link.

What? Then Airah turned around slightly to look at where the AI's avatar was looking at. And froze.

She'd been so focused on the stores that she'd missed the bridge leading to the other side of the river. And the steam locomotive resting on the other shore.

What the hell? She asked on the mind link, before shaking herself mentally as she realized Lenna was talking to her.

"Sorry, I didn't quite catch that." Said Airah as she looked back to the noble, and Lenna gestured at the mansion.

"Would you like to come in for refreshments? We can then discuss your reward in a more comfortable manner."

Airah looked at the building, and winced internally. She had no reason to believe Lenna bore ill-intent towards her, but she didn't know these people, and that building looked tight and well built enough that she probably wouldn't be able to turn into her dragon form and smash her way out. And if she had to fight, that was practically her only option. She'd been a special operative, sure, but that was so long ago she barely even had memory flashes of it anymore, and furthermore she'd been recently memory wiped anyway. She didn't even have the Imperial Navy's basic hand to hand combat training!

As it was if she entered that building and Lenna, or anyone else for that matter, decided to hurt her she would barely be able to defend herself.

"No, it's fine, we can conduct our business here. I would like to establish my hold as soon as possible, and I will be leaving immediately once I've received my reward." Said Airah as she felt Stellyra in the back of her mind drawing some exit strategies in case things went wrong.

"Ah, of course. Very well then, should I have a take off area cleared for you? It would also be a good idea to warn the townsfolk, so they do not panic when you turn back into your true form."

Airah frowned, and then was hit by a flash of inspiration. She didn't truly know how great dragons were seen or treated into this world, although Lenna's reaction implied a certain degree of reverence. Better to keep it under the hood as much as possible for now, so to speak.

"Actually, if you could, ah, avoid mentioning my presence, that would be great."

Lenna looked around at the gathering townsfolk, who were clumping up to watch the commotion, some of which already pointing at the strange woman talking with their baroness.

"I think it's a bit too late for that." She said skeptically.

"No no no, I mean my presence as a great dragon. I would prefer to have at least some time in peace to set up."

The noble nodded.

"Ah, I see. Yes, of course, I'll instruct my men to keep their mouths shut. As for your reward?"

"Right, yes. Well, see I am something of a scholar. Or an enthusiast of learning at least. Since I was travelling light, to say the least-" Lenna blushed, and Airah tried and failed to suppress her own. "I would be overjoyed to have some reading material."

"Of course! Although I will freely admit that I am no scholar myself, I do enjoy the good book from time to time. On what subject?"

"History as well as magic if at all possible. Oh, and if they have a map, I would be grateful!"

"I'm sure we can find you that." She gestured at who Airah presumed was the guard captain, who came to them. The wounded had already been whisked away by their comrades, and a fresh group of guards had come out of the mansion to reinforce the perimeter around them. Airah also nodded mentally to Stellyra as the AI pointed out a couple of concealed crossbowmen who had taken firing positions in the upper levels of the mansion. The captain was careful, if nothing else. "Stavror, can you detach a few men, and visit Marty's Library? We need some historical text, anything relating to magic, and even a spell book if he has some in store, and detail someone to get us a map."

"Yes ma'am!" The captain saluted, slamming his fist against his heart, and left, bellowing orders at his men.

"As for the rest of my reward...Do you happen to have a spare suit of armor and a weapon from your armory? I very much like to stay in shape in my human form, and weapon drills are a good way to do that. Besides, you never know when you might need them! A training manual would come in handy as well."

"Certainly! We have some sets set aside in case we get new recruits, and we have plenty of training material! Would there be anything else?"

"Why yes, a bit of more...monetary compensation." Airah held her hands up as Lenna winced. "Worry not, I won't ask mountains of gold. But there are some purchases I would like to make on my own, and beside that having some money is always useful."

The baroness definitely looked relieved.

"Of course, I'll have my men bring out...Say a hundred gold coins, and ten platinum. Would that be enough?"

Airah nodded, having absolutely no idea of the value of the currency, but trusting that Lenna would at least try to reward her fairly. Besides, if nothing else if would at least give her a start at understanding what was worth what here.

"Yes, quite so."

"Excellent! I'll have my men bring it over then!"

Airah watched as Lenna relayed another set of instructions to her captain, and another group of soldiers scuried away to fulfil their lady's wishes.

A few minutes later, Airah looked at the small crate of books, the large crate containing the armor set, the weapon and the manuals, as well as the sizeable bag of coins, and realized that she probably should have asked about something to transport it all. Lenna sensed her hesitation, and she smacked her forehead.

"Oh, of course! I'm sorry, I forgot, we'll get you a bag of holding."

Airah's ears immediately prickled at that. Even after millenia, dungeons and dragons was still played by humanity, and the possibility of a space manipulating bag immediately prickled her interest. Still, better not to look too interested.

"If it is no trouble..."

"Oh don't worry, it isn't! We actually make our own here. Some of the warg hides the outer villages collect are excellent for enchantment, and they are sturdy enough to let the bag last for a long time." The baroness shrugged as she gestured at a soldier, who took off at a run towards the mansion. "Training, or even importing, the required enchanters is always a headache, but it has been more than worth it over the years. Added value and all that."

"Right. And I suppose the railway allows you to export them straight to the heart of the Empire?" Hazarded Airah.

"Not straight, but yes. It is one of our products, alongside the hides and furs, that has justified the commercial trains visiting our town, rather than just the monthly supply train."

"That's good. Commerce is the lifeblood of civilization."

"Indeed." Lenna smiled, before nodding as the soldier she had sent out came out of the mansion, still at a dead run. Damn, even with a full set of armor, the man ran at a speed that would have had some old Earth olympic athletes sweat. Airah made a mental note to check out what the physical limits for humans were here. After all, if they had magic, they might be able to enhance themselves far beyond what she would consider possible. "There is your bag, I presume, we'll get everything inside, and then I assume you'll be on your way?"

"Indeed!" Airah smiled in thanks at the soldier as he handed the bag over to his captain, and the soldiers quickly and efficiently stashed the goods inside of it. Airah watched in fascination, the bag was clearly made to be very wide for it's size, as to shove large items inside, and the inside looked...odd. Like you were peering into a room through a window.

It was over in seconds, and the captain handed the bag to her, which she took. It was light, barely more than what she'd expect a light backpack to weigh. Which meant it had some form of weight reduction as well. It was also clearly made to be worn like a backpack, although it looked easily re-configurable into a saddle bag as well. She shouldered it, nodded in thanks to the baroness, and left back towards the gate.

"Goodbye!" She called out over her shoulder, and Lenna returned it.

It took her less than five minutes to make her way to the gate, and leave the town. The guards gave her a few looks, but either they'd be warned or they just flat out didn't care about people leaving the town, and let her pass without trouble.

A solid quarter of an hour later, she sat down by the side of the road on a convenient rock, and looked at the surrounding farms and countryside.

So, let's go over what we just learned. Said Airah over the mind link.

Well, first and foremost, this isn't a medieval culture. I hadn't realized it at first, but the armor of the soldiers are too identical. They might not have been made in an outright factory, but they probably were made through standardized industrial processes. The steam locomotive is also a clear sign that they are far more technologically savvy than the city might indicate. Early industrial revolution level, maybe?

Perhaps. But the steam locomotive might have been imported from another country. Or the industrialization bug might not have caught on in much of the nation yet. Stars know it took a bit on Earth, and it mostly became so spread out because you either teched up or got conquered by someone who did.

Fair. And magic might even the playing field here.

Yep. A rifle is nice, but it's not the complete revolution it was on Earth if you can enchant bows to shoot arrows with a range of half a kilometer. Airah sighed. Alright, let's get to the forest, and out of sight of the fields. Then let's turn back into a dragon and get airborne. I don't know about these 'holds', but even just a convenient cavern to store our stuff would be nice.

Right. Well, better get back to walking then. I'll do another dive into the briefing package, see if there are some references to the nations Lenna mentioned.

Sure. Airah sighed once again, and sat up, before continuing on her way. She....didn't really like walking. That's what humanity had invented vehicles for after all!