BECMI Chapter 252 – Imperial Nonderstandings

“That… is understood. We are still permitted to use magic to defend ourselves?” Captain Hardolf asked carefully, irritated but knowing Delpha’s laws didn’t apply everywhere.“Of course. That’s the reason for the cheek Tats, warning off those who might cause trouble for you. You’ll have a white crescent to indicate you don’t live here. Local Casters have a silver crescent on the other cheek.” The guide tapped his left and right cheeks in series absently, his attention on his clipboard. “We’ve not set up diplomatic relations with Delpha yet. Are you an appointed ambassador, titled emissary, or licensed trade official for the empire?” he went on calmly.

“I am a preliminary agent acting on imperial authority to discover the fate of Delpha’s citizens who were residing in Newport before your… occupation and rebuilding efforts,” he managed diplomatically.

“Ah, right. No need to see the Governor, then. I’ll send word to the Consular’s office, they should send someone down to the docks to meet you, and will send word to the Delphans holing up in the Schrostule estate to the north, outside the city.”

Well, that was some good news. “And the former Lord Mayor of Newport?” he asked carefully.

“The Lord Mayor was rumored to have attempted to flee the city a bit late, and the killmage serving as his bodyguard was taken out by enemies as he was towing the Lord Mayor on a . They both took a swan dive into a burning building from above, and didn’t make it out of the inferno. When it was pointed out, our investigators noted the fire was supernaturally intense, as not even bones could be found in the ash when we cleared the ground later.” He shrugged. “People don’t treat Casters who abuse their magic nicely around here.”

Well, so much for the General’s son. Perhaps someone might him back to life… but even with the General’s relationship with her, he doubted the Empress would bring back such a waste of a human being as Fergil the Souse.

Then the captain blinked. “Is that a Pyramid?” he asked sharply, as suddenly the structure of pale blue stone was visible in the center of the city, rising up over all other buildings.

The guide didn’t even look back. “Yes, that’s a Pyramid,” he repeated. “Eis Blue, we call it. Surely a Delphan is familiar with Pyramids.” His voice was bland, unconcerned, and totally unruffled by the Captain Hardolf’s consternation.

They… had build a magical monument, and a Pyramid no less, here? So quickly? It had been less than three weeks since the city had fallen! How did they do it? Was it truly magical? What Tradition was used to construct it? Pyramids were tremendously powerful edifices of magic if used correctly, and not even Delpha had many in the Empire, all of them ancient and rumored to have been built by mages from long-fallen Sythia, the knowledge lost to the ages.

Yet those Pyramids still remained, still magical, although few if any knew just what they were capable of...

He revised his opinion again about what they were dealing with again, this time an edge of caution in his thoughts. The way these conquerors were so utterly unconcerned with his magical ability was also disconcerting, as if they’d seen worse and knew how to deal with it.

He considered the odd magical vessel towing his pinnace so readily, doubtless fully capable of doing so to the largest sailing ships of this era, and studied the magic about it, the oddly humming noise surely signs of some strange…

Strange…

The boat was not using any magic

Captain Harfdolf stared intently, but he could not sense any magical energies about the vessel at all. Oh, there was some moderate alchemical hardening of the hull and rust-resistance, itself a clear indicator of advanced material alchemy to spend it on a harbor vessel, of all things, and both the pilot and the guide had moderately magical Rings on their fingers… but that was it.

Captain Hardolf stared at the suddenly visible Pyramid, rising up above all other buildings in the city, and wondered what he was actually getting into here. Delphan airships had explored much of the world, and since the fall of Sythia, had discovered no other nation or power with anything resembling the magical power and ability of the Empire. Could there have been something out there they missed on this world? Truly, the Empire didn’t care much about exploration, and after finding it had no rivals here, his fellow Delphans hadn’t really looked any further, more concerned with rebuilding the type of society they had once had in the past, albeit in a world with much less magic than their original, if the tales were to be believed.

Well, that did mean it was time for diplomacy, then, at least until they could find out more.

The captain subconsciously straightened his uniform. He was a bit irked that he wasn’t being shown to the Governor or whatever himself directly, but he was a ship captain, not a diplomatic envoy, so on the surface it made some sense. Still, not bothering to see a Delphan airship captain so casually bespoke an immense amount of chutzpah… or some supremely strong and confident backers.

They were not impressed by the Empire’s displayed powers or reputation, meeting it with a cool indifference and casual dismissal of the implied threat that was impossible to fake easily.

These two men were just doing their job, and towing in an airship captain from the magical empire across the ocean was just one part of it. The Delphans weren’t some special force, they were just mundane guests.

Captain Hardolf didn’t know whether to be irritated or impressed. Until he found the truth of such matters, he would just have to reserve judgment…

“...we’ve not been able to find any leadership who survived the attacks after the city was abandoned,” Dame Beuxcollix related to him. Of mixed origins, the moderately attractive woman’s hair was black, but her skin still bore the bronze of the Common Delphans. Still, she was a minor wizardess, never having bothered to learn greater power, as even the moderate handful of spells she commanded was enough to make her a noble… and a powerful person outside of Delpha. Within the empire, she barely qualified as an apprentice, of course!

The woman took a sip of the surprisingly good tea to calm her nerves and steady her thoughts. Captain Hardolf had been impressed at how quickly places of business had opened in the new city, and the quality of the food and drink here. Almost every building was built of stone, sometimes with wooden facings and trim, greatly reducing the chances of another fire sweeping through the town like the last one had. The streets were stone as well, layered and graded to extraordinary levels, with sewage grates for water run-off.

They even had running water… in ALL the buildings!

“The Siricilan leadership was absolutely purged,” the most senior of the surviving nobles went on. “They hunted the Guild thieves down like dogs and sniffed them out of all of their holes. The city’s armed forces just melted and ran, most were cut down regardless as the extortionists and strongarms they were, and good riddance to most of them. The families and children were mostly left unharmed, and contrary to what everyone believed would happen, were eventually taken back into the city here, given new homes in the buildings that have been set up, even new clothing, and instructed on new jobs, mostly in maintaining some of the amazing structures that have been going up.

“More and more of the outsiders seem to arrive every day. They are… industrious, to say the least, and they use a magic I am not familiar with in the slightest. They have no fear of spellcasters, and a few clever ones hiding among the refugees who tried to use their magic were caught almost immediately and put to death promptly. They take a hideously dim view of magic being used on others without their permission.” She shuddered in disbelief at such barbaric treatment of spellcasters!

Captain Hardolf kept his composure. “I am capable of returning a fair number of you back to Delpha aboard the . How many do you anticipate returning home?”

She hesitated, eyeing him oddly. “I… probably only a handful, Captain. Myself, my son and daughter, Lady Blitt and her son, Catherine and her maid and daughter,” she finally answered hesitantly.

Captain Hardolf had seen at least a hundred Delphan survivors, mostly family and servants of the Mayor’s personal staff, so this surprised him. “So few? After the deaths of their providers?” He was truly astonished by this.

“The commoners all professed a desire to stay after seeing the power of the invaders and listening to their offer. Their children are already enrolled in the schools that have been set up by Eisfall, their odd magic that doesn’t require one to be a wizard intrigues them… and, of course, wizards are treated no differently from anyone else here,” she sniffed haughtily.

Ah, the last part didn’t surprise him at all. He knew that many people chafed under both the rule of wizards and the fact non-spellcasters had no say in Delphan governance at all, and would be quick to jump ship if they came in contact with a society that did not value spellcasters as the Empire did.

They were merely commoners, a dozen of them for every spellcaster in the Empire, at least. Losing some was like losing the sand on his boots.

“Is there anything you can tell me of these invaders? Where they come from, their intentions?” he asked her carefully.

“They are refugees, not colonists, and not invaders,” she stated primly, earning a sharp look from him. “Colonists have this bright and cheerful attitude about them, of folk claiming a frontier and making it their own, away from what they left behind, determined to make something of themselves and this life. We saw them come through the city all the time, taking one look at Newport and wanting to get out of there.

“Invaders, raiders, and conquerors come seeking loot and pillage, power over others, grasping after coin and power over others. Newport was full of such men, come to take their opportunities in blood and coin from others, then go back home with their gains after preying on others.

“These people are not building, they are re-building,” the Delphan wizardess said in no uncertain terms. “They are here, they intend to remain here, they will hold this ground, and others are coming behind them.

“There is a very grim and dangerous drive about them, and they don’t talk about their history. But they are very motivated by something, and it is plain that there is something they are fleeing from, and they have chosen here to make their stand.”

“That is… not so different from the Empire, then, in its own way,” Captain Hardolf reasoned. Such people would also be phenomenally dangerous to fight, as they had nowhere left to go and so would fight to the bitter end to protect their families and all those coming behind them. “But you have no knowledge of where they are coming from?”

“They do not mention it at all, despite I’m sure what is almost constant questioning and even some careful magical attempts to discover it… which were nonetheless caught immediately and punished harshly as a lesson to others. Really, a simple spell should not merit …” she trailed off, wincing and taking another sip of tea.

“I will see if I am allowed to repatriate them,” Captain Hardolf said soothingly, earning a smile from her. Clearly she was not a woman used to restraining her authority and status among non-Casters. Having to watch her words and restrain her magic was clearly unsettling her! Doubtless even the thieves of Newport had been more respectful than these newcomers…