Silvertree Chronicles Bk. 01 Ch. 35

Eldar nodded to him, "I have an officers meeting to get back to finish. Thank you for your observations."

He teleported back into his home. He sat down, "Next order of business. Please see the family notifications of those lost get done with respect. Have the bodies taken care of if they have not been already. Anything on the recruitment front?"

Tranosa looked at him, "A few humans and a few Elves. Dwarven Recruitment has slowed and will likely pick up when some of our new ones return to let them know how things are working here. Generally positive feedback only a couple of personal matters had to be settled."

Eldar nodded to him, "I know our need for the Blades is big but we still need to protect the town. Have Dorothy look at these new people. Some may come to protect our wives and expecting mothers. Plus, all the workers we have."

Tranosa nodded. "Has anyone spoken with our Sapper unit yet?"

Rachel looked over, "I rode out and encountered the lieutenant to get a status. They got into the area to make an assessment. Getting out did not go as smoothly. They got spotted and pursued.

As Lieutenant 'Spark' put it, 'Whatever was pursuing us came raining down in small fleshy chunks and red rain.' That got several laughing among his group. Whoever assigned the non-sappers to that unit did a good job overall. He was pleased with all of them. The other bad news which I have not had time to relay is this.

A force of 300-500, mixed with a couple of dozen giants were amassing. Including a couple of Fire Giants. I told him if he has the supplies, use everything his guys to set more of those surprises along the path out of the valley. They turned and traveled back with a Dwarven Captain who smiled at the news and the loan of the unit to 'Thin the herd' as he put it."

Eldar looked at Tranosa, "How many Lieutenant assigned to each of the dwarven captains right now?" He held up two fingers. He sighed and he saw the other Dwarven captain sitting there. "I want you to scrounge up two more lieutenants with their units not assigned to the upcoming security here to join our Dwarven Captain here. You are to leave first thing in the morning.

One of those units will get transferred to the other dwarven Captain. Once the sappers are done, they are to return to the dwarven side of the border and resupply. I will contact the Elven Queen to contact the Dwarven King to work out payment and have the supplies ready for them at the border. Regardless, I want Lieutenant Spark to stay on the Dwarven border for at least 2 days.

Let the Lieutenant do what dwarves do best. Talk about what they just did and what they saw. That should drive up dwarven recruitment. Then escort out the next caravan heading our way. They are to return here so we can go over the assessment when they return. Hold off that discussion unless I am present. They are to stay in town until that time. I know I have been all over the 3 Kingdoms lately.

Hopefully, that will die down soon and I can catch a patrol or two. Astria and Staria I want to get Commander Goldeagle to tell you what spells to prepare for tomorrow. Commander Goldeagle I want you to take the two of them to the other side of the river and assess their abilities for Battle Mage duty. Until our enchanter arrives, I want every available wand slinger and area of effect spell available for WHEN that force tries to come over the ridge."

He stopped talking for several minutes. The others starred but those officers in the know just held up a hand.

He turned to Tranosa, "We got several 20- and 24-foot wagons. Get 4 of them teamed up tonight and taken to the mill. Start running 6-by-6 and 4-by-4 beams into those wagons and start rolling them toward the crossroad. I want you to make a Quick Ride out there tomorrow and meet with the siege weapon builders who show up.

Find out what they need to do the job. The first thing I want is four giant killer ballistae. He will ask the size. Tell him hill to fire giants have been seen so a step above that. Ask him to describe the devices to you. He should say that devices would have a 120-degree arc of fire with a moving base to quickly change the angle. Tell him I want them out to a 140-degree angle for better overlap of fire. Re-enforce as needed.

Once they are built, they will need to be mobile to get to the scorched site of our last battle. I want them to set up and manned on the north side of the road. It will give them a better angle of fire for now. Hire them on as another specialist unit the same as the sappers and put them under Captain Rachel Walder just like our sappers.

With the recruits coming in from the dwarves I want two units dedicated to guarding those four ballistae. All dwarven units. Reporting to Captain Walder that should fill out her four units. She will have control over the special operation aspects. We will get a communication stone for that line to her so when she is out, she can still get with Commander Tranosa and me here.

They will be operating in Commander Goldeagle's area but if they need supplies, we can make arrangements. I want communication crystals from every commander to me. I also want one from Commander-to-Commander. Charlemagne you will need to procure them, and the funds for the projects I gave them yesterday.

Get an estimate for the remaining bows that can be made from the existing Silverwood tree. Pull half of those funds. Annette you will need to speak with the Master Leathersmith to get the cost for current projects, and those on the drawing board. Get the figure from Charlemagne on what she is pulling for bows.

Add that figure to what you pull from the discretionary funds. We are putting half those bows into the protection force. We are going to start setting up the protection forces with better gear and we got authorized by the Queen to use discretionary funds for outfitting the protection force. Any questions?"

The Dwarven Captain looked at Eldar, "You went quite..." Eldar cut him off. "Talk with Commander Tranosa after the meeting and he will explain that to you in better detail. You will get a chance to see it first hand as you pass through that area tomorrow. The same goes for you Lieutenant Silversong."

She laughed. He looked around, "Any other questions or issues for this group?"

He looked at the Dwarven Captain's, "You will be leaving early. You better start getting your current units rounded up. Commander Tranosa will find you so you can head out now. Everyone else, wait here a moment. I need to speak with Charlemagne in private."

He walked into the back bedroom and brought in Charlemagne. "I asked you to get a message over to Jarron through Lady Silver Hair concerning Walder being in the Knights?"

She nodded, "She did not forward to Jarron, she went through her records. There was a sergeant by that name thought lost when a whole section got wiped out. The fact he is alive and a Duke gave her ideas. She wants him back as a Captain to help reconstruct that lost unit. Correction she demanded it."

Eldar pulled out a communication crystal, "Lord Regal we have a change in plans."

Lord Regal replied, "What is this change?"

Eldar smiled, "I plan to bring all four new wives into the Knights. Two are battle mage capable one will be commanding the town protection forces, and another will be a Captain in the Gray Blades. The two human Captains and their older brother, who is a lieutenant. They are legacies. Confirmed by Lady Silver Hair.

In fact, the father was thought dead by the order and Lady Silver Hair wants to get him reconnected as a captain in that area to rebuild the lost unit from 30 years ago. They would be active members. The only non-active wife we would need to address is the Duke's wife. We can do that when they are here for the wedding.

I also plan on bringing in our Battle Bard and other Moon Blade holders. I want her to craft some general recruitment songs about the exploits of the men and women fighting with honor against extreme odds to work on recruiting more members.

If I am to cycle people out for the Knights, I will have to send her out on occasion to meet other bards to teach these new and true songs of what is occurring here. To attract the right kind of talent."

Lord Regal laughed, "Your argument is compelling. I could ask you to wait but given your history, that is not your style. I am taking this message as this is what I am going to do, consider yourself informed.

Very well, General, you have our trust or you would not be in that position. You made the right call on that Academy Mage. I do not see much of a use for him but he might send some talent your way."

Eldar shook his head, "He will if the Queen directs him to. I will see to that!"

Lord Regal laughed, "Thank you for letting me know."

Eldar looked at Charlemagne, "Ready for the mass recruitment?"

She laughed and they walked out. They went back into the room. "All trainers, commanders, and remaining Captains stay. Lieutenants Walder and Silversong stay. All my wives stay. Everyone else needs to leave now."

Once the room was cleared of the others he locked and magically locked the door. Then slid a chair under the handle. "The house still has time on the silence spell I cast yesterday. From this point, the people in this room will be called an 'Advisory Council'. When I ask everyone to leave except the Advisory Council you know who you are. I would like my new brides, Lieutenant Walder, and Silversong to come forward."

He got them in front of him, "You have been selected to join a special group that extends beyond what we are doing here. To cover not only the elven Kingdoms but all allied Kingdoms. Before I go any further please note, there is no backing out of this group. Once you are in you can even be called out of retirement for an assignment. Anyone of you not interested in this should let me know. I will send you out of the house."

He saw a bunch of smiling faces. "The Gray Blades were founded in an idea inspired by my two wives. After I had this epiphany of what we could do the visions started. We pitched this idea to Jarron. I told him I was so confident in what we were doing I made a wager with him.

All of the team I was working with would become lieutenants Charlemagne and I would become Commanders over this unit. Jarron laughed his ass off at the 'sucker bet' I made until the night of the wedding. When the Lady of Dreams appeared. He asked me later why I did not mention a goddess being involved.

I told him if I had said that at that time he would have asked me to double my bet or given me odds to make more. As you can see the bet paid off. The group you know, if you read the Gray book that has been circulating. The Knights reformed 800 years ago. In recent years they have taken heavy losses. This facility is not only to train Gray Blades.

It is to find, train, and recruit Knights into the order. For most of you, the big change is while here or assigned out of here you will get paid twice. Once as a Blade and Once as a Knight. Of the six of you, one will be leaving in a few months. Lieutenant Walder, I want you up to Captain strength when you leave so I can promote you and pass you on to Jarron as a Captain.

That should shut him up as I will give him 2 Captains to work with. This goes along with the Lieutenant and two squads who are transitioning out to Jarron's command. All information discussed in this assembly is classified and not to be discussed with anyone. Annette, don't you think that a bard and a Lieutenant from a royal family would know how to do a nice waltz?"

Annette smiled and soon the 2 of them were dancing around the room.

He nodded to Annette, "Now TELL them what happened." They both looked shocked and back at Eldar. "Annette is psionic and her children will introduce psionics into the Elven population. They will also be evaluated for potential agents of the order. The Knights cannot approach her children or her children's children directly. They have to go through me. There are 4 people I know of who are General ranked or equivalent.

My father was one. My mother was also a Knight. Children of Knights are known as legacies. Rachel, Dorothy, and Gabriel are all legacies through their father. He was a sergeant in a unit that got wiped out. He will be reactivated as this second Captain after the wedding. Jarron will be his boss. One of the other generals. The other three I know of are in this room. Myself over this region.

Charlemagne works all the logistics of Knights coming in for training and us sending new Knights out. You will see people come and go over the coming years. This is planned. We are going to work on bringing some of the lower-ranked Knights up to officers if possible. We will receive them in the next few weeks for the first group to replace the lieutenant and two squads I lost.

We will train their 'replacements' right beside them. The fourth has no rank, no people, but is a General equivalent in pay. She has helped to capture, interrogate, and disable so many threats that she is her own asset and has a trainer from another part of the world, who you should invite to the wedding. I want her to assess our three new human assets to see if they carry any talent in this area.

Especially my two wives." She nodded. "This next part is not classified but sensitive. We have a woman who is not a Knight but her husband is a Knight. She is expecting quadruplets. All battle mages each one of them has a shot at being an arcane Mimic. When our Academy starts putting them in tournaments then word will spread.

One of the things we look for is bringing in new skills to the elven population. Unarmed combat that took down a 7th-tier mage in under 30 seconds and she never got a spell off. Trick shooting and Zen Archery. Keyno became an elf friend by destroying the elven targeting range with one arrow after demonstrating what she could do on a horse.

I told her I wanted her to hit the ropes supporting the 2 moving targets as they crossed. They were laughing when she missed the target on the log then they saw them fall and destroy the range. She earned the right to the 2nd Silverwood bow designed to her style of bow. I got the first bow. Psionics, Arcane Mimics. I have been pushing reward and other money back at the Queen.

For testing of all the population and not just those entitled. The Arcane Mimic is just learning how to control her powers. She was never trained or tested. She was a Half-Elf working in an inn. Charlemagne, make sure Rachel and Dorothy have accounts set up at the elven back to get paid. Also, that is where your dowry will go. I will not take money for marrying you.

That money is yours and your father agreed to double it if I pulled it off. Your dowry will have a million gold pieces in it. Each. To my battle bard, I have an assignment for you. I need you to incorporate the values from that book into the actions that we do into bard songs. We want to get that spread across the realm to attract the right kind of talent.

It will have to be customized for the audience. All without calling out the Knights directly. We keep conflicts small when they occur and run for a shorter duration. We also ensure the terms of the Dragon War treaties and address them through private channels.

In this case, you would bring it to me here or Jarron when outside of my region. I am the first regional general and they are looking to make others. All of the heads of our 3 allies are aware of who and what I am, in regards to the Knights. In addition to what I am doing to protect this region.

All allied heads are aware of the Knights and our current allies are all actively supporting members. Work I have done that is classified is what moved me from impure bastard son, to head of House Silvertree, to Knight Protector of the Elven Kingdom, and then Duke. Not just a Duke, one who will be the Field Marshal over this region.

In short, I have saved our and our allied Kingdoms' collective asses on several occasions. All with the support of the others in this room. You are being brought into a very exclusive group that we hope to grow. Now, any questions?"

Lieutenant Gabriel Walder looked at him, "Why inform us of the 4 generals?"

Eldar looked at him, "There are 3 Generals, Annette holds no rank, she is the equivalent of a general. The answer lies in your father. He had no way to let anyone know he survived the attack that destroyed his unit.

Now he will have a location where a lot of his incoming people will be trained. I want to ensure the troops know that others are out there to contact. And in my case right where to find me. Hiding in plain sight."

Lieutenant Walder chuckled, "You used that line on my father. After he saw the book, he wanted me to realize the opportunity this could afford me."

Eldar nodded, "We were talking in public neither confirming nor denying what we each suspected by being a missing member. I suspected by his reaction to the book he had been a member. I confirmed that fact which is why I can do all of this now. To Astria and Staria, you will both get rated at battle mages.

When Staria moves to enchanting she will still be on the Knight pay as we will funnel enchanting projects to you. To complete specifically for the Knights. If it is work you cannot do you will push it through our master enchanter."

She nodded and smiled. "You will retain half-pay with the Gray Blades as a Reserve Battle Mage that can be called into service." He looked at Charlemagne and she nodded her understanding. "I have a high degree of autonomy in this area. This is why I bring my Wood Elf heritage to bear. To reduce the effect of this town to the size of a village.

Then two villages into the resource drain of one village. While reclaiming 200 square miles of former elven forests back to the Elven Kingdom. That was negotiated into the Cross-border protection forces deal. We get the land planted with trees and grown then it is returned to the elven people. Next question?'

The room was silent. "In that case, Knights dismissed."

He tried to step outside but he got mugged by four brides who hugged him and 2 Lieutenants who wanted to shake his hand. They finished their hug when he called out. "I have a Centaur captain to talk with."

He got outside. "Captain Silver Moon, your presence is requested." She walked back. Eldar looked at the Captain Broxan decked out with a few new magical items.

He saw a stack of items to the one side and a pile of rings and such in the corner of the blanket, He looked at the Captain, "Have you started outfitting your men with stuff that is suitable?"

He shook his head, "Just myself."

Eldar looked at him, "Then you are charged with the care of these items for now that are suitable. Get your troops outfitted and return anything not used so we can distribute it to the other units. Captain Dorothy, would you gather the non-suitable items and go through them. For your city guard what items would be suitable and what would not be. We may send those to the army."

She smiled. He looked at her, "I did this with the Centaurs because they cover a larger portion of ground, they have fewer options for armor and no real footwear that they could use."

Eldar nodded to the Captain, "Once the blanket is cleared you can use it to carry everything to your men."

He nodded. Eldar looked at him, "Next time I am at the enchanter's shop I will have to look at getting all my active field captains a bag of holding. I already got my wives one. I do not count the 2 village elders as 'Active' because they direct from a home.

Dorothy, when you are done, you need to let the Captains know they have to generate 5 patrol schedules and routes that are all different and implement a new one immediately. Same goes for you, Captain."

He looked back at Captain Broxan, "Part of the information we gathered from the men who did not exist. They had your patrol patterns down and times."