BECMI Chapter 359 – The Hands have It

The Princes of Argencal, Tilian, and Grafburg raised their hands in stiff approval. So did the Archduke of Westbursh, his vassal Count Dornemire, and the entire Erewahr delegation, of course. Slowly, the vassals of those Houses also raised their hands, sourly watching their dreams fade and die as two Overmagi stepped right over them and took their places.“The motion is carried…” Prince Jughamya murmured, a clear super-majority carrying the vote, the abstains and opposed irrelevant.

“We present three names for the positions of Baron of Oloskun, Viscount of Dalebrunning, and Marquis of Tannerholt. All are currently relaxing in the fine hills of Transyvia and so are not in attendance at the moment, but will return shortly for their investiture.

“Eleanora MacGully, True Archmage of Earth, for Marquis of Tannerholt.” Kormac’s wife would be a fine noblewoman, even if real power rested in the hands of her Forsaken husband. “Nico Bastionelli, High Archmage of Alchemy, for Viscount of Dalebrunning.” This earned a swift glance from Prince Guilimani, who was well aware of just how dangerous a fellow Fuireze Alchemist could be… and a High Archmage completely overmatched him! “Jihamel Corrios, Ranger born in Inclu, Rank K Cryptomancer on the Sylvan Path, for Baron of Oloskun.”

Which put him close to True Archmage in ranking, with warrior skills to back him up! Prince Drakkar straightened noticeably upon hearing that an Inclu would inherit the barony located to the north of his own lands… and as a Ranger, was clearly a wizard with a martial edge so dear to his own heart!

The Judge glanced around, noting the looks of frustration on the faces of nobles who’d thought they’d have a chance to inherit an empty Noble Holding, regardless of the wishes of the natives. “All in favor of Princess Brittabelle’s proposal?” he asked, privately astounded at this very unforeseen display of political power from the Sidhe elves.

The same hands rose again, three Princes unwilling to oppose Princess Belle, with the new Prince naturally adding her hand to the mix.

Three elves stepped forward with documents in hand to the Judge, who took the sealed and signed papers smoothly, scanning them perfunctorily. He’d seen hundreds of such things. “The chamber will be advised that temporary representatives of Tannerholt, Dalebrunning, and Oloskun are present and appointed until their Nobles appear to take up their offices and make more permanent arrangements,” he said dryly.

All three elves stepped over behind the new Prince of Caeledon, now standing in the seat reserved for Princes, her husband at her side, forming an instant power block behind her… and undoubtedly strongly allied with Erendyl.

“In the light of the lycanthropic infestation and the irresponsible accumulation of undead inside Zanzyr, the need for the Clerical magic and power to combat the threat has once again risen.” Eyes nearly popped out of their heads as the other nobles realized what Brittabelle was about to propose. Their eyes instantly turned to the Grandmaster… who merely watched, clearly dissatisfied, but saying nothing.

“The Sisters of the Primal Rose have mandated that their students and magical heirs erect temples to the Elements in Zanzyr, to celebrate their Schools and bring the people closer to the Primal energies. They will begin appointing Clerics shortly from among the populace. They also mandate that the High Priest of the temples also be the High Master of their Element, and bear no other noble title.”

Heads turned to the two Princes and Archduke, who had bowed to the earlier Scrolls. Clearly they were going to have to choose either their noble titles, or their High Mastery!

“The Sisters of the Primal Rose also insist that Thaum, Patron of Zanzyr and Wizards, establish a temple and call for Clerics to succor His land and people, and ensure the development of Wizardry among His faithful. As Thaum’s representative in Zanzyr, Prince Jean-Arc has conceded to this motion.”

That was not exactly news, but the fact Thaum had directly agreed to it under pressure was plain how important this moment was.

“The Great One of Dragonkind has joined this effort, and prevailed upon Prince von Jaggenfel to establish a temple to the Dragons in Inclu. Its high priest will be the High Master of Dracology. The Great One will begin recruiting Priests and dragons to staff it forthwith.”

The reason for Prince von Jaggenfel’s sour expression was plain. Inclu would go from being acclaimed dragon hunters to protecting a temple to dragons in its own territory!

Their eyes turned to Messime, the red-haired elfin still smiling. It was plain what Prince Drakkar had chosen, and who the new High Master of Dracology would be.

A half-dragon… wasn’t that just too appropriate?

But who were the new Masters of Air, Fire, and Water, then? And what of the School of Necromancy, and would a True Archmage truly be satisfied with NOT being the High Master of Alchemy in Zanzyr?

Prince Guilimani’s expression showed he didn’t believe it, either, which, given his merciless paranoia, meant he was probably going to try to do something about it, and then it would be death or worse for one of them!

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Prince Jughamya’s inscrutable face was considering the implications. Lifting the Clerical sanctions meant the ancestral spirits of his people could again be worshiped. The implications for relationships with his Tukhman cousins were high, although his family’s continued rejection of the authority of the Khans meant they would simply find other reasons to be hostile.

In the end, his nomadic kin were barbarians and savages, and gloried in the status.

He would only need to tie the worship of the Ancestral Spirits to the school of Illusion. With it so tightly wound up with Glamour, Shadow, and the Fey, all closely linked to illusion, that should not be difficult, the Judge considered, as the many hands rose, his own among them.

“All in favor of lifting the ban against Clerics of faiths beholden to the Schools of the Great School of Magic?” Princess Brittabelle called out. Those furiously abstaining could do nothing. With one stroke, the laws against Clerics in Zanzyr were struck through, although those Priests would have to be tied to the Great School of Magic.

Even the Grandmaster looked thoughtful as he considered the implications of this momentous change!

“We ask the Council to consider an official designation and split of the military duties of Zanzyr. We propose that the current Title of Grand Marshall of Zanzyr be divided into the Shield Marshall of Zanzyr, responsible for internal military security and up to ten miles from Zanzyr, and the Field Marshall of Zanzyr, who will be responsible for expeditionary forces outside Zanzyr’s borders.

“Furthermore, we propose Prince Drakkar von Jaggenfel take up the reins of Shield Marshall and foremost defender of Zanzyr. We propose that Kwender Erewahr be appointed the Field Marshall of Zanzyr, assembling an elite force that can be used to strike down the enemies of Zanzyr beyond its borders.”

It was a real power move, putting her older son right up next to Prince von Jaggenfel in the military hierarchy.

It was also boldly brilliant. Enemies of Erewahr would naturally want to hamper any power he could gain with an ‘elite force’, which would limit his manpower. That, in turn, would explicitly limit Zanzyr’s ability and desire to wage a war of aggression or expansion.

Kwender was also known as an enthusiastic and aggressive commander, one willing to take the fight to the humanoids who inhabited the mountains around Zanzyr, but who had no interest in fighting the Golden Khan, Rukheim, or the Shires whatsoever, reining in Zanzyran disdain for those nations.

“As his authority in such matters is respected and defense of our nation is paramount, we propose the Shield Marshall retain the full voting power of the former Grand Marshall, and the Field Marshall be allotted three votes in Parliament. To keep abuse of position low, the Field Marshall may not hold a dominion in Zanzyr.”

Princess Melazei was rising to her feet to challenge this, doubtless about to recommend her brother-in-law Don Rinaldo, who was present. Her words died before they were spoken, as she did not have a family member with the right military history who was not also landed, and did not want to give up the Viscounty of Ilrazza which Don Rinaldo also oversaw, in addition to Fort Vajrah!

Kwender was Captain of Camp Kristneth, the southernmost holding of Zanzyr, but while that was an important step in the military, it came with no voting rights. The Field Marshall position would thus be a final destination for aggressive soldiers pursuing a military career, and thus likely to experience high turnover.

Princess Brittabelle’s faith in her son to be able to discharge the responsibilities of this position were quite high, as his time in Darkmoor had him knocking on the doors of rank L, and as an Elven Wizard Fifteen and Fourth Circle Cryptomancer on top of matters!

He had also married a Ceruil elfin and given his mother four grand-children while there, so she was very satisfied with him. The Ceruil elves were also quite martially-minded and adept at fighting, and had swelled Erendyl’s fighting forces to a deadly extent.

The rumors of new baronies being ready to come into being in the south were not exaggerations. Only the ongoing purging of the humanoids from the Bleaklands was preventing a major expansion of the forests of Erendyl to the south, with the former king and Belle’s consort Waynder Equavus in charge of the efforts on the eastern border, which he was prosecuting with energy and grace.

Prince von Jaggenfel stood, and the Judge recognized him. “You speak ov a threat vrom the west, vrom Sind,” he stated coldly. “They are distant, across the desert, with the many tribes there scattered and weak,” he said disparagingly. “They are no threat to Zanzyr!” he declared.

“The Master of the Desert Nomads has already conquered half of Sind, has enticed over five thousand humanoids of the mountains out into his army, and is building an army to invade the east as we speak,” Princess Brittabelle refuted him with utmost calm, the shock of her words silencing the room. “He has in excess of twenty thousand cavalry and however many of the Sind infantry he can drive before him when he turns his attention to our western border… a border, as you know, that is little more than dry plains leading into the riverlands around Fort Saberton.

“He is known to covet the breadbasket lands of Federyn, and the fastest way to get through them is through Zanzyr.

“Without proper defenses in place, by this time next year, all of central Zanzyr will be overrun and occupied by the dervishes of the deserts, who will happily invite in the Tukhman to attack with them and join in the reaping.”

She gestured up a map of Zanzyr, and then a map of the lands further to the west that astonished the nobles there with its detail of the desert and the lands of Sind beyond. Swathes of territory rapidly fell into red, orange, and green, and the wizards all murmured at the show of rapid military conquest.

They’d had no word from the west, or that anything was going on there! Trade with Sind across the desert was sporadic and uneven at the best of times, especially since the dervishes were known fanatics who also despised Zanzyrans, a rather common state of mind in the world…

“With success, the Master plans to entice the hordes of the mountains to fall upon Zanzyr, and begin raiding into Federyn and the Shires when he pushes east.” A wave of red cut through Zanzyr and flowed down the trade roads to Federyn, then further south into the Shires of the hyn there. Orange lands assaulted Zanzyr from the east, and also down towards Federyn, a great communal effort of aggression, and Zanzyr was at the crux of this effort.

She definitely had everyone’s attention, as this was an external existential threat that was just as close as the Tukhman, and an open road led right into Zanzyr, where the best the Tukhman could manage was Skullhorn Pass’s deadly defenses!