Silvertree Chronicles Bk. 03 Pt. 02

Travious sighed, "I need the team and the ships. How many days until they arrive?"

King Goldeagle looked over, "I have not moved them yet. They are still out by the island."

Travious nodded, "Then the Magister can take us back and I can claim two ships including the Silver Rose. We can launch from there and order the other two back."

King Goldeagle looked at Jarron who nodded, "It is a plan. They would not expect him to come in from that direction and he could get to the other warlord first before engaging them."

King Goldeagle nodded, "I want your Aunt to get the last known positions for each set of ships in case any of them survived. We could have men in launches."

Travious nodded, "Good thought, but I would exercise caution that anything that goes after them has the new true seeing spell, Your Majesty."

He sighed, "Good point."

A crystal to the Countess started buzzing. She walked away and came back, "Your Majesty. I was just contacted by my specialists. They found dragon runes on the Ambassador. They have been removed. They will know what has happened there and of our presence at your embassy. Any discussions we had with him present, even in a secure room like this."

Travious sighed, "Not just them, everyone including Majisa. We also found our leak. Can you see these things Majisa?"

She nodded, "I can see them but not remove them yet."

He sighed, "I want to set up a permanent shelter in the middle of the Deep Sea. For at least this first year of the operation in the ocean, we can set it so my family is safe. I need a caster with a wall of force to create a platform to walk out upon if no ship is present. They can communicate as needed.

I would say a different location than the rendezvous point for the derelict captured ships. The ladies shook their heads. Melia spoke, "We will wait in the town. Your Aunt can contact us as we stay in hiding. Going into the field or near it is too dangerous."

Travious looked at King Goldeagle, "I need a death ward belt or gloves. For just about every member of my group and on the saddles for the horses, Your Majesty."

He looked at Travious, "Why?"

Travious looked at him, "This shadow dragon deals negative energy damage. If it is a champion there is no telling what other types of damage it can inflict. Do you have a crystal to the enchanters?"

He nodded and pulled that one out. The voice responded, "Your Majesty, how can we help you today?"

The King looked at the crystal, "What do you have in the way of death ward items? Knight paladin Silvertree is with me and it looks like he has a couple of questions."

Travious looked at the crystal, "Also looking for three portable holes, the status of my order on cloaks and a timeline for the shield I requested."

The King looked at him, "What are the portable holes for?"

Travious looked at him, "Moving dwarven explosives and supplies."

The Enchanter responded back, "We have the holes. We have deathward necklaces. 14 in fact. It would take a few weeks to make them on anything else."

Travious nodded, "I need it on gloves or a belt. Always on. We will want those necklaces. All of them. How long to add that enchantment to the saddle of a Silvertree saddle?"

The enchanter coughed, "That would almost double the cost."

Travious nodded, "I did not ask about the cost just the time!"

The enchanter thought, "I could get it added to an existing one in a few days. To protect both rider and mount I am assuming?"

Travious smiled, "Yes. My wife will be loaning me hers and I will be sending you mine. I want it ready. Status of the shield?"

He coughed a bit, "They will have it here in 7 days. Another 3 days to enchant." Travious nodded, "How much?"

The enchanter calculated it out, "With the discount, it will come to 31,000 gold pieces for the shield. This is for the command functions. The saddles will run 80,000 gold pieces if new."

Travious nodded, "I want them. I am sending 1 and 11 more that need to be crafted just like it from scratch. I want you to enchant reigns with poison immunity. Just for the horse. What would that cost?

The Enchanter chuckled, "Around 16,000 gold pieces a set. It should only take a few days to get from your leather-smith."

Travious nodded, "I want 6 sets of those. Then add in another 50 fireball and chain lightning wands. Each! Eight sets of communication crystals with triple encryption. Then a stack of 50 disintegration scrolls and teleportation circle scrolls. The shield, the reigns, and death ward items first for me. Then get enchanters working on the other stuff. You have my account number. If you have not shipped out my cloaks then bring them to the Palace. Leave them with the Guard Captain."

Travious heard him sigh, "They will be finished within the hour. I will have them teleported there directly. I heard what happened at your house. I know your Aunt is very busy with all of that and funerals."

Travious nodded to himself, "I have an assignment that will not wait and I need to get geared up. Keep them jumping over there as more will likely come!"

Travious heard him chuckle, "They are starting now."

King Goldeagle looked at Travious, "The dwarves sent you this medal and 10 million in gold. Minus what you are tithing. For saving their paragon and what you did to the drow. We might have to deploy some of our troops to the dwarven side if they get invaded because our tunnels got collapsed."

Travious nodded, "Before you do that get clerics to work on divining any stable sizable caverns in our lands they might revert too. We might have to shift locations on our front. My recommendation to you, Your Majesty."

He nodded, "We should be cautious as the terrain has changed. They suspected she was close to the thinnest part of one of the support columns. They said it was a double explosion."

Travious nodded, "The barrels and then her holy symbol. Two took out all the trees in a mile area with my great-grandfather. I think the ogre one was close to three-quarters of a mile. Hers would have been contained. More focused on those caverns, especially after the first collapse."

King Goldeagle nodded, "What made you think of it?"

Travious looked at him, "The Countess's ability to teleport to the other end of a communication crystal within feet of it. The only question was could she send supplies like that. When she said yes, I knew exactly what I wanted to send that drow bitch."

Jarron looked at Travious, "What did you send her?"

Travious looked at him, "20 barrels of dwarven explosives set with an impact timer. Delivered a foot off the ground. After 50 assassin's and the loss of all of the elders of my house and the children present, I had to take some action. Even if I was not allowed to go there myself by divine direction."

Jarron nodded, "Creative."

Travious nodded, "Corellon Larethian said the same thing. The only time he sent me a message and I was not asleep. He commented on it personally."

Jarron chuckled, "Your great Grandfather would have run in there by himself. He hated the drow."

Travious nodded, "I know it was the last thing added by a wielder. We will see what happens to them after the dragon's return. It is supposed to reshape the world."

Jarron shook his head, "I am not sure I will be there for it. My health is not the greatest. These negotiations might be one of my last missions for the Kingdom."

Travious nodded, "Well your son has an impressive record and language skills."

Jarron smiled, "Yes, he took a page from me and your father. I heard you have a few languages as well."

Travious nodded, "Dwarven, the three dialects taught, elven, and common. Nowhere near what your son has."

The King looked at Travious, "The plan?"

Travious looked at him, "You order the ships to stay put. One lost all three of its officers. I will take that one and the Silver Rose. I got a communication pearl to the Countess. She can deliver the sappers and their supplies. They can store half of them for safety. We get fresh fruit and supplies for the ships inside two of the portable holes.

I will store the wands and cloaks and we will get our casters to bring in this new group. We will need bananas to help with any who get seasick. It will not stop it but it does help to offset the taste and reduce the bitter taste when they do. My father's journal.

I will head for this other warlord's province and speak with him indirectly if possible. The fact that I won't work for a human would likely put him off, Our gods, and then you. Humans like to be on the top of the list and not the bottom.

We cannot ally with him though, regardless. Not if Kan Tri is just going to overrun him. I need a couple of trusted casters. When we arrive, I want our guys to teleport back and pick up any other gear that is ready while we are anchored or in port. I will stay off communication. Unless I have ships at the rendezvous or a problem arises, Your Majesty."

The King looked at Travious, "I will get you the people you asked for. You rebuild my navy if you can. I will get the enchanters to deliver here for now, given the state of your Estate. We send supplies out to you and we can ship them from here. Jarron, start negotiating to build two more ships with the option to buy more."

Jarron nodded, "Appearances."

The King nodded. He deactivated the crystals, "Go get what supplies you have with my Guard Captain. I will get the Countess here to take you back to get your horses. Then take you to the Embassy."

Travious nodded, "Jarron are you going straight to the embassy?"

He nodded, "That is the plan."

He looked at the King, "If you can get those casters here, he can take them to that location and they can pick up the others as they arrive, Your Majesty."

He nodded, "They will be here within the hour Jarron."

Jarron nodded. Travious rushed out of the room and got the supplies that had been delivered including his new cloak which he put on immediately.

He went back upstairs. The Countess looked at him, "The embassy is a mess according to my sources."

She handed him a pouch. " One just dropped off some intelligence. This is Bree's personal effects. I knew you were close to her. Lady Annette collected that up for us."

Travious nodded, "She was the one who I could not get to marry me. Maybe she foresaw her own fate."

He stored the gear and she took him to the inn. He grabbed his gear and kissed all of my wives goodbye. He smiled, "Keep each other entertained. I have Gia with me."

They smiled and nodded. He sighed, "Let me get through this mission and then see if I can catch a break for a few days."

They smiled and Melia looked at him, "No promises but we will hope. I will get my saddle down to the enchanters and we can swap."

He handed her stacks of rings, "The ones that are purified. The ones that are non-dragons that need to be purified. We will keep the Dragon rings. You hang onto them keeper of the rings. Lady of Dreams requested it going forward."

She took the rings. He nodded and smiled while Majisa and Melia went into the home. He handed a portable hole to the Countess, "For the sappers to put at least half of their explosives."

She smiled, "They will offload and we can repeat it because of the moving ships." He nodded to her and they walked downstairs. He saddled up Shi'Drakon who has been completely healed of the physical injuries. The mental ones would be harder. He thought to him, "Hopefully today will be a quiet one once we get back."

He looked over and the town planner glared at him, "How did I get roped into this?"

Travious glared back, "Part of our embassy was destroyed! You have to give us an estimate of how much and how long it will take to fix it."

He nodded, "I do not know the local laborers."

Travious smiled, "Jarron knows the languages to get the dialog started."

He nodded. They appeared at the remains of the embassy and the smell of gas was still in the air, "A green?"

The Countess nodded, "An adult. All of the excess gear has been taken into your home which remains intact. The main embassy building as you can see was extensive damage from where the dragon fell on it. The freed slaves were killed in the building."

Travious nodded. They rode out to the little building. There were two guards nearby who looked at Travious as he returned. One asked, "Where were you?"

Travious looked at him, "Killing the other 5 in Quatarsia when they arrived. Including one red who got his ring off. Second red I have killed in combat."

He looked sheepishly down and nodded. Travious looked at him, "I had my family here. I was directed to the town first. The ships were directed not to come here. Apparently, the Captain disobeyed the King's orders. Or should I say the Green dragon did."

He nodded, "Else you would have had them all."

Travious nodded, "That was the plan. You know what they say about plans. Why fucking make them."

He gave half a chuckle as they rode into the home. He saw a few of his guys up with the clerics looking over their wounds.

They looked at him and one spoke for the group, "There are 8 of us here and 7 wishing to help you out after what you did in the town. You kept them at bay."

Travious nodded, "That is the idea."

The planner looked at Travious, "Your Aunt said to give you these rings you would know what to do with them."

He nodded, "Thank you." He looked around. "Did any of the casters use the rings to go dragon versus dragon?" A lot of heads shook. He walked back to the falls and unsaddled.

A few of the other injured horses were back there being tended to. He sighed, "Debrief after I get a few hours of sleep. Then we have a warlord to go and see. When Jarron arrives, tell him to catch a quick nap."

Travious went into his room and stripped out of his armor with Gia's help. He looked at her, "There will be so much death. Remind me why we are doing this."

She smiled and he helped her out of her armor. They crawled into bed. She slid on top of him and took his full length at a slow but steady pace.

She then rode him hard through two of his climaxes and collapsed onto his chest after her fifth. She fell asleep on him and he left them that way. They woke several hours later with Jarron prodding their naked forms.

Travious looked at him, "Give us an hour to pray and we will be ready to go."

Jarron sighed and nodded. Then he walked out. Travious kissed Gia, "Time to wake up. She moved off of him and went to the chamber pot first. He bent down and prayed and she joined him.

They took a quick shower washing each other but knew they had people to meet today. They got dressed and armed and got their horses saddled and rode them outside. Jarron looked at him, "Sleeping in I see."

Travious looked at him, "I do not know how my father dealt with working both sides of the world."

Jarron chuckled, "He ran himself into the ground at times. He and your mother were both good people. Your father was more confrontational with me, but he worked well out here to get the mission going. I cannot complain as he got me out of my wallowing and back into the fight he was facing. The new ambassador will be here shortly."

They rode forward and he saw an elf upon a horse teleport in.

He looked at Travious, "Greetings Silvertree."

Travious looked at the new arrivals cloak, "Are you the patron for House Silverbar?"

He looked at Travious and nodded, "My sword sensed yours. Your grandfather spared me and my house from annihilation. I spent time at your academy, training, and learning the languages for this location. The King called and I answered."

Travious smiled, "Mine probably sensed yours as well, but he is a bit mad at how much I have been using this bow on the dragons. Even though he killed two of them in dragon form and 30+ in those damned rings."

He heard chuckling from the sword, "Fair enough you bring me in when you can and for the big stuff."

Travious smiled, "He is talking to me again after pointing that out."

The elves chuckled. "I will lead the way."

They rode toward the Palace with no issues and he took 6 casters along. He got the horses stabled and Shi'Drakon started mounting them including Jarron's new mare."

Jarron just sighed and they headed inside. The new warlord was in a new throne given the damage Travious did to the last one. He looked at Travious, "Quite a few guards with you this time, Knight Paladin."

Travious nodded, "We got attacked last night by a chromatic green dragon. It caused significant damage but was slain. Our other ambassador was killed. I need to see my agreement and the new ambassador and Jarron Silverleaf, who worked the previous peace treaty, can work with you, Warlord Sun."

The little man nodded, "Here are your docking rights for 2 ships, Knight Paladin."

Travious looked at it, "I would like a provision for bringing in commandeered ships as well, Warlord Sun."

He sighed, "No more than 4 of them, and only 2 ships can dock at a time. Is that agreeable, Knight Paladin?"

Travious nodded, "Agreed. Did that other ship leave, Warlord Sun?"

He nodded, "Just an hour ago. My informants at the docks tell me you gave all the cargo to the slaves who promptly sold it. Then disappeared into the clothing shops and the like. Some have applied to the longshoreman's group to go out to sea.

They want to fight. If you are looking for any to do that, they are there. The captain you spared wasted no time in informing them of your actions. That it was a rogue mercenary group who had threatened the local warlord to ensure he did not interfere.

That is what my guards passed to them. They may not know of the change in leadership as of yet. Unless a local spy has given them that. The dock assignment is on the outer fringe. Faster for you to depart when you need to, Knight Paladin"

Travious nodded, "They know. I made sure they knew I executed the existing one and threatened the new one and you were under duress to cooperate. Right before I crippled that ship forcing them to make ad hoc repairs. I thank you, Warlord Sun."

The Warlord chuckled, "Well at least I know that they know."

Travious signed the document, "As long as you are not in violation of my paladin code, I will keep my forces in check." Travious chuckled. "Nice addition to the agreement, Warlord Sun."

Warlord Sun nodded, "You gave us your code so it made it easy for us to deal with. Anybody who thought they could have slaves have been informed, arrested, and the slaves freed. There were only two others and they are my problems, Knight Paladin"

Travious nodded, "Were any of the slaves of elven blood, Warlord Sun?"

He shook his head, "No they were actually locals they put into slavery. They will likely die for their actions, Knight Paladin."

Travious nodded, "I will leave you to your diplomatic matters and head back to work out issues with the loss of men and the replacements I have coming in that I recruited."

The Warlord nodded, "You are quick with that."

Travious nodded, "I am limited in size but I have a line of them waiting for an opening if one becomes available, Warlord Sun. That does happen when you can shut down 2 pending war fronts for a while with small groups of people, Warlord Sun."

He smiled, "Take care Knight Paladin Silvertree. Thank you for identifying my brother's corruption."

Travious nodded, "Thank you, Warlord Sun."

He walked out and his men saddled up as he did. One of them asked, "The new ambassador and Jarron, are they going to be alright?"

Travious nodded, "I put him on notice that I have more forces arriving and a waiting list to get in my group. He will deal with them fairly. He did with the commandeered ships on my agreement."

Travious headed back to the embassy with the army units he requested arriving. He looked at them, "Have you been told why you are here?"