Chapter 42: 40 – A Boring Bureaucratic Meeting

POV - King Aiden Rancorock

As my aide, Shane, walks the heavy blade back to the queen, I continue.

"With the formality out of the way, we would like to open dialogue. But first, our lights do indeed use light magic. Should you have something of a similar and adequate brightness, please take it out. We can also provide you with a side room to change out of your armor."

"Thank you King Rancorock," she says. "I have a unique skill to change armor or attire in an instant, so a room will not be necessary. Although, your consideration is much appreciated."

She then takes out multiple metal stands, similar to my coat stand, with a clear orb on the top that looks to have coiled metal wire inside and a place for a monster core below it. Placing a core into each, they light up blindingly bright. Similar or even a touch brighter than our light magic lights.

She says, "If you could be so kind as to have your aide move these where the lighting could be best utilized, that would be much appreciated."

Nodding to Shane, he begins moving them around the room.

"While he is moving those, would you mind if I asked how those lights work without light magic?" I said.

"Of course. I will actually give all of these to you for any future meetings between our people and if you would like to reverse engineer them yourselves. The clear glass has a vacuum inside. The coiled wire is tungsten, which has an incredibly high melting point. The enchantment heats the wire. When the wire is heated, it glows, and without air, it can't combust and creates a bright and sustained light. 

"We have these all throughout our town and inside my castle. Being that the enchantment heats only a small piece of wire, they are incredibly efficient compared to light magic enchantments. However, the coil can and will break after being used for a long time, so replacing them eventually is a necessity."

"That's quite the invention."

"Thank you, however I cannot take the credit. My fellow queen, Navi Nikita, is a very skilled enchanter and inventor and came up with the working design."

At this point, the last light is placed and the light magic turns off.

"Then if you'll excuse me."

One second, there is an intimidating armored figure standing in the center of the room, dressed like they are going into battle. The next, stands a supremely beautiful woman in a black dress with rubies sewn throughout. Red eyes, silver hair, and elongated ears. She smiles and I can see two long fangs. Wearing her sword at her waist and a crown on her head, she looks every part a queen. Glancing around, all of the dwarves are stunned by the change and her beauty. The head priestess is fidgeting. I worry if she isn't called to speak soon that she may explode.

Queen Midnight says, "I appreciate you allowing me to get out of my armor. You mentioned that there were questions or explanations needed. Where would you like to start, King Rancorock?"

"Ah, um, yes." It takes me a moment to regain my composure. "Yes, let's begin with a point you said you would explain more, Queen Midnight. Would you care to tell us what task the gods have given you and how it will impact us dwarves?"

"Of course. I was given the task to destroy the Empire, eradicate their church, and bring about a situation where all races can interact with each other again. I have a plan to do all that, as ambitious as it is.

"What I would ask of the dwarves for my plan to work is simply don't attack the humans while they are in chaos, and be open to discussions with whoever their new ruler will be once the Empire and church are no more. Rest assured, I will make sure it is someone who will be friendly to the non-human races. Until then, simply continue to have no contact with them."

"That… are you truly capable of destroying the Empire and church? That seems far past ambitious, especially with the number of humans there are. Even at war, we weren't able to defeat them and fought to a stalemate."

She smiled slightly at that. "If I were to fight a traditional war, no. Even with my strength, taking on all of the human armies at once is unreasonable.

"My plan relies heavily on subterfuge, misinformation, and manipulation. Killing people is easy, but for there to be lasting peace, the people themselves need to turn on their false god. Simplified to its core, I will sew distrust and hate for the church into the hearts of the populace. With some calculated assassinations of the worst among them while setting it up so that humans reveal their crimes, I will fan the flames of revolt in the people. While the Empire is in shambles, I introduce my future human priests of Order and Chaos with plenty of aid to the masses. Public sentiment will turn, and we will let them destroy the church themselves."

I think about her ambitious outline. "Something like that may have a chance to work. There are a lot of possibilities though. And what of the dwarves? The humans caused us much harm in the previous wars. There will be many that would push for war. Why should we not strike?"

"For this to succeed, the church needs to have no legs to stand on. If an external war breaks out, the church has a rallying point and people will go to them for the strength they have to protect them from outside harm. Without a war, the church has one less thing they can do for the humans. As for sentiment, the wars of the past should stay in the past. The Empire and church are the enemies, not humans themselves. As treacherous as their leaders have proven to be, they are still a race created by the gods. Should I succeed in destroying the church, then the revenge that the dwarves would want would be satisfied."

"Those are valid points. Keeping out of war would be beneficial for us," I say. "But why tell us this? Why not just do it if you can?"

"That is to show respect to the dwarves and also to allay any concerns or fears you might have." She smiles again. "I don't know if you have spies or anything amongst the humans, but if you did, they would report what was happening and be able to see someone is manipulating the humans. I didn't want the dwarves to fear some mysterious person causing havoc, and the best way to do that is to make you privy to the basic outline of what will be happening."

"The consideration is appreciated. Councilors, any other questions on this topic?"

"Yes. I am Elder Stonespear. Queen Midnight, you mention leaving the wars of the past in the past. Does that include the Vampire War a millennia ago?"

"Elder Stonespear, I am assuming you are alluding to if myself or any vampires hold any animosity to the dwarves for being a part of the coalition against the vampires. Let me assure you that none of us do. Not only is nobody alive from that time, the root of the problem was the Empire and their false god. I can swear on the Godsword Seren, the God of Order and the Goddess of Chaos that we have no ill will towards the elves or dwarves for that conflict. Would that assuage your concerns, Elder Stonespear?"

"It does, Queen Midnight."

I ask again. "Other questions on this topic? … Then next we would like to know more about the quantity and types of goods you have to trade."

"Certainly. Would I be allowed to take items out?"

"You may."

From a larger bag at her feet and a plain pouch on her belt, she began taking out dozens of items. They all looked like they came from the bag and not her storage. Could that be like the ancient storage pouch that we have in the treasury? Come to think of it, I think I remember hearing that it was acquired during the Vampire War. But the one we have is nearly falling apart, yet this looks almost new. Nobody has ever been able to duplicate the enchantment on it. She is still taking piles of items out of the larger bag that could never fit in our pouch. 

I can't help my curiosity. "Queen Midnight. That bag and pouch…"

"Oh, the belt pouch? Yes, it is included in the items for trade. It makes moving items or equipment quite an easy task. The bag, though, is my personal item and can hold a significant amount over our pouches."

Between their lighting enchantment and their bags, what other enchantments or inventions do they have?

"That is appreciated, Queen Midnight."

"It's my pleasure, King Rancorock. Here are the items I have brought at this time. I also hope we can trade in these or similar items in the future. I believe it would be a fair trade for the expertise of a team of dwarves for tunneling and a priest or priestess to build a church."

Looking at the large piles of items, it is by far a trade more in our favor. The crates of vegetables, sacks of grain, and crates filled with all of the other items she had mentioned nearly fill the floor of the hall. The pouch itself has a value greater than all of this as well, and I dare not even fathom the value of her bag. The pouch in our treasury is treated as priceless, and she's using them to port vegetables? Looking at the others, I think they are all thinking similarly. The scales are far on our side.

"For what you ask, the bag and items would seem to be more than enough," I say. "Almost too much. Why do you ask for so little and bring so much?"

Her smile lights up once more. "Pardon, but I don't see the trade as skewed at all. Knowledge is cheap to those with it and priceless to those without. Right now, your people have knowledge that is incredibly valuable to me. The years those people trained to learn what they do as well as all of those that came before them to build that knowledge to where it is now, that isn't something that can be discounted."

"That is understandable. Councilors, any other questions on this topic?... Then we will move on. Before we can fully weigh your items with our people, what are some of the specifics of the tunnel you are wanting built?"

"It is a tunnel connecting my town to the entrance of a dungeon I have conquered. The tunnel will be over thirteen miles and be at just over a two degree grade. The tunnel would need to be three wagons wide, structurally sound, and have adequate air vents to the surface with an open area halfway through.

"Additionally, I'm not sure how common it is with other dungeons, but a good amount of the items I bought were from the dungeon."

Is she serious? Do they have a dungeon that could source vegetables, cloth, and paper? Such a thing exists? Ours has plenty of leather, iron, steel, and odd items, but nothing like that. No wonder they could have a surplus in those items. If we could get access to that ourselves, even with a fair tax…

"If it is so far underground, how were you able to access it?" I asked.

"The vampires from long ago created a teleportation platform that connected a dungeon behind my castle to this dungeon. They were never able to conquer it, but my team and I have. As the dungeon master, I have full access to change it however I like, meaning items like these can be easily accessible," she said.

"And I assume access for us wouldn't be for free?"

"No, there would be some type of tax, being per head or on items sourced from it. Details can be ironed out at a later time. Right now, only myself or someone I give access to, can use the teleportation platforms. Once the tunnel is complete, I plan for my people to be able to access the dungeon to hunt for items for their own use as opposed to my team doing it. That way their livelihood can be secure and we can focus our attention on the Empire."

"Councilors, any questions on this topic?"

"Yes. I am Elder Ironsmith. Queen Midnight. A tunnel as you described would be very resource intensive. Are you wanting the dwarves to supply resources along with the foreman?"

"Elder Ironsmith," she began. "This initial trade was intended just for an experienced team. We have people skilled in magic, and laborers for hire that can tunnel, and have many resources. However, depending on what the experts say is needed, I would love to talk to the dwarves about trading for some of those more specific resources. I flew here in three days, and if emergency items are needed, a fairy can cover the distance in almost half that. With a belt pouch, a fairy could bring and take large quantities of items if needed."

"Then why build a road if they can travel so far so fast?" Elder Ironsmith asked.

"Because that doesn't help the general population," she answered. "For our economy to thrive, people must be able to trade and make business decisions for themselves."

I nod. "Any other questions on the topic?... Then moving on to the next topic. About the priest or priestess—"

I was interrupted by a screaming priestess. "Me! I'm going to go! Queen Midnight, I am High Priestess Alienor. About a month ago I received an oracle from the gracious and glorious God of Order that foretold your arrival and that you would bring change to the world! He also said that their will is yours, and so if I can be of assistance to you then it is like I am assisting the gods! Please, Queen Midnight, allow me to accompany you! I will be of great assistance and can train any priests about our wonderful God of Order and Goddess of Chaos and Church of Balance! I need to go with you, and—" *bam*

"Shane, please roll the passed out head priestess so she is on her back at least."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

I close my eyes and massage my temples for a moment. "Queen Midnight, I apologize for that. Head Priestess Alienor is a wonderful priestess. However, when she gets too worked up, she forgets to breathe and can be prone to falling unconscious for a time. Please don't mind her. She will wake up in under a minute. As you can see, she is very serious about serving the gods and would like to accompany you."

She stares blankly at the unconscious woman being rolled onto her back. "I...Can see her enthusiasm. If you say that she is an excellent priestess, then I have nothing but gratitude for her assistance. She wouldn't have become a head priestess without being qualified."

I decide to move on with that settled. "Councilors, are there any other questions on this topic?... Councillors and guests, does anyone else have any questions?... Then, Queen Midnight, I believe that gives us the information we need to have a discussion. We will need at least a day to discuss this. We will provide you a room as well as a guide for our city. As a visitor from another race hasn't come in recent memory, I would ask that you remain with the guide to reassure our citizens. As for meals…"

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"Please do not worry about my meals. Vampires only drink monster blood and I carry a large stock at all times. I am very thankful for the room and will stay with your assigned guide. As for Talon, my hippogryph companion, I have all of her food with me and will make sure she behaves while we are here."

I nod. I was a bit worried about both of those. "Very good. Then I believe that ends these discussions. Shane, could you please show Queen Midnight to a room and also act as a guide for her during her stay?"

"Yes, Your Majesty." He bows and turns towards her. "Queen Midnight, if you would please follow me."

In an instant, the dress and crown disappear and the vampire is standing there in her full armor. As the captain said, it really is a unique material I have never seen before. 

Before she leaves, I need to ask. "Queen Midnight, if I may."

She stops and turns back around. "Yes, King Rancorock?"

"What material is your armor made of? It is unlike any metal I have ever seen, and as a dwarf, we pride ourselves on our metalwork."

"Certainly. I have multiple weapons made of dwarfsteel from a millennia ago and they are of the greatest quality. My armor was given to me as a reward for clearing the previously uncleared dungeon I had spoken of. It is a mixture of true dragon scale, mithril, and true dragon leather. In regards to magical and physical protection, it is without equal. My team and I all received sets and mithril weapons for themselves. We are very thankful to the gods for them."

Does that mean… "When you say true dragon… do you mean the creature of legend that has never been slain? That breathes fire hot enough to melt enchanted steel and is thirty meters long?"

"Yes, that was the final boss of the dungeon, so it certainly has been slain now. The armor and solutions that Queen Nikita and I invented were able to withstand the fire. Its scale hardness also cannot be compared to a wyvern. That would be like comparing iron to paper. For a team of four, it was quite the battle."

"So dragons really do exist…" I muttered.

"Of course." I can't see her face, but I feel like she has a cheeky smile. "A young one is living at my castle right now. It sleeps with my daughter and follows her around night and day, even though it is currently as large as a horse."

"You… I apologize, Queen Midnight, but the more I hear from you the more my ideas of common sense are broken."

"Ha! Do not worry about it, King Rancorock. The gods wouldn't have given a task as large as mine to me if I conformed to a concept like common sense. Then if you would please excuse me."

The vampire pulled her cloak over her shoulders and it seemed like she became darkness itself. That if I look away for a moment, she would simply disappear. Truly. The more I hear, the more I question what is actually normal. Is riding a hippogryph and having a dragon as what almost seems like a pet for a daughter normal? I simply don't know right now. Watching her back as she goes, I feel like this will be a quick discussion.

The door closes and an Elder makes a motion. "I move to accept her proposal for a trade and send an experienced crew as well as guards to her town."

"Second."

"Third. Your Majesty?"

"Approved." I hit my gavel. "Elder Quartzik, would you put together a good team for this?"

"Sure thing," he said.

I ask, "General, would you organize guards for this?"

"Yes, Your Majesty." He salutes. "As he is already privy to the situation, I would like to send Captain Dridok as the head of the guard team and leave his gate duties to his vice captain."

I nod. "I agree, he would be the best choice for this. Captain, do you accept?"

"...Yes, Your Majesty…" he replied.

Another Elder makes a motion. "I move to send Alienor and an apprentice priest with the group for a to be determined amount of time."

"Yes! Yes! Yes!" Alienor shouts.

"Second."

"Third. Your Majesty?"

"Approved." Another gavel hit. "Alienor, find someone to bring with you and someone to take over your duties."

"Yes! Thank you, Your Majesty! I'm so happy! Praise be to—"

I interrupted her. "Yes, yes, Alienor, you're dismissed. Just please try to remember to breathe. Please leave and go prepare. Moving on."

Another Elder says, "I move that we begin preliminary planning of a road between us once the tunnel is complete, and that we consider further trade in resources we lack."

"Second."

"Third. Your Majesty?"

A third hit of my gavel. "Approved. Elder Brickell, I assume that's up your alley?"

"Yes, Your Majesty," he said.

Another motion comes from an Elder. "I move that when the humans are in disarray, that unless we are attacked or our situation changes, that we refrain from engaging them. Additionally, we also increase our forces in the areas closer to the humans in case something does happen."

"Second."

"Third. Your Majesty?"

"Approved." I hit my gavel. "General, see to the increase in patrols and the standing army with a no engagement order."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

"I move to request from Queen Midnight that we send an observation team to learn more about her town,' an Elder said.

"Second."

"Third. Your Majesty?"

I might as well be hammering nails with my gavel at this point. "Approved. Elder Stonespear, a group like that would be in your expertise."

He nods. "It will be done."

"Good." My gaze wanders over the Elders. "Any more motions?... General, were you able to appraise her level?"

"...I was, Your Majesty… It was 71…"

"""...""" The room went silent.

Is reaching level 71 even possible? Obviously it is. The highest I have ever seen is the general at 50, and that was after decades of fighting in our dungeon and even expeditions to the monster lands. If her armor and that of her team really is mithril and dragon scale, combined with her Godsword…

"General," I ask hesitantly. "Someone at a level forty percent higher than yours, and if we assume her 'team' is close in level to her, and if we take what she says about her team's armor as the truth. What would our men's chances be?"

"In a straight fight? Almost zero," our strongest warrior said. "If she has a team like hers, then a war of attrition, constantly sacrificing enough men to keep all of her team busy for long enough that they collapse of exhaustion or succumb to a constant use of light magic would be our best chance. Although, I highly doubt that would even be possible for us. It would be a strategy similar to what our ancestors and other races did to defeat the vampires a millennia ago, but that took the forces of all three races, and they still lost tens of thousands of lives to a small force in that final battle. 

"As you have all read the recorded battle reports, it was throwing lives away to hold them in place long enough for large scale magic to work. Almost as many lives were lost to friendly fire as were mowed down by the vampires. And if we take what she says as truth, the vampires of that time weren't able to conquer a dungeon that she has. Nor did they have armor like she described. Additionally, if she has a dragon?

"In my professional judgement, Queen Midnight by herself is a military force that could potentially rival ours. Being a single unit and not a large force, she could withdraw from combat easily as well. Honestly, she would be near impossible for us to kill. Our normal soldiers would be nothing but wheat before a scythe, and our officers would put up little resistance."

"""...""" We were all quiet at the assessment.

"I move that we increase the funding of the church as thanks to the God of Order and the Goddess of Chaos that her animosity is not directed towards the dwarves," an Elder said.

"Second."

"Third. Your Majesty?"

"Approved." I tapped my gavel and sat it down this time.

As powerful as she is, from just one meeting, she appears to be a wise ruler. Dalia Midnight, I pray that you always stay true to the gods and remain a friend of the dwarves. You are certainly not someone we would wish to fight.

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