Michael Clark
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Butcher of Gadobhra Chapter 429 Raw
🕑 Added 2024-09-18 04:05:13 +0000 UTCA lot going on here, and I'm sure I have some of the tenses and wording wrong. I'll take a better look at it on Thursday.
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In the Empire's Capital, High Mage Ostenhoffer stood as still as a statue, monitoring the other teleport stones still active, seeing the surges of wild mana entering them, and trying desperately to maintain the crippled teleport network. All the other stones were transferring their mana into the Wolfsburg stones, which in turn sent the excess to Rowan Keep. The High Mage theorized that they had a method to vent the extra mana without adverse effects on the environment. He'd been told the Baron had bragged about providing a Tier 5 stone to the Keep. He estimated they had transferred close to a hundred times the mana that stone could hold. He needed to see the Shield for himself and see what the hell the Baron's hedge wizards knew that he didn't. It was a maddening puzzle, but one for another day.
Currently, he hoped to survive the day. The mana was surging higher and higher. Winter's attack was masterful, hitting them everywhere at once and they had no way to counterattack. He'd have to make a choice soon to shut down three of the Wolfsburg stones and take a chance on the rest of the stones burning out or exploding. If he could maintain the Master Stone and one Wolfsburg stone, they could keep the Northern section of the network active. Too much time would be lost recalibrating the network if too much of it was shut down or destroyed. The Emperor himself had commanded that they needed to be ready to send their troops throughout the North, knowing that an attack would be coming. But some of the teams of mages were reaching their limit, out of mana and stamina. He was having to balance too many things at once, with too little information.
A huge surge of Icy Mana entered the Master Stone, showing the outline of an ancient Ice Drake. Every stone active would show the phantom. The huge creature was attempting to teleport somewhere within the Empire, but he didn't see a connection yet to where. It could be going to the Capital, Wolfsburg, or any of the other locations with an active stone.
And then the mana stream stopped. For one second it was quiet, and then all of the active stones were deluged with chunks of rocky debris and burned-out magi-tech components. They would realize soon that this was the shattered remains of the apparatus above the mana rift, the weapon Winter was using against them. Right now, everyone dove for cover to avoid the explosion and flying debris. The silence afterward was eerie, as everywhere mages picked themselves up from the floor, wondering if the ordeal was over.
With a slight popping sound, a bedraggled and frozen human appeared on the Master Stone. His rags were the color preferred by Journeyman Fire Mages of the Academy in Crystalstone. He stared around him, clutching a saucer-shaped device in his hands. The High Mage approached him carefully. "It's all right. You are safe. What happened to you?"
Sparky held out the item in his hands to the High Mage and said, "He was leaving, and I was hoping I could escape, then someone threw this into the portal. Everything went bad. The Dragon was injured and screaming, the stone cracked and everything was being sucked into the center. I was sucked into the center!! Then I was here." He looked around, and once he saw he was safe, fainted dead away.
Dalnir and the remaining Mages looked to High Mage Ostenhoffer. Dalnir asked the questions on their minds, "But what is it."
The High Mage turned it over in his hands, looked at the destroyed circuits and tubes, and then sighed as he read the lines of small text stamped onto the shell. 'Franklin Electromagnetic Field Disruption Device. Patent Pending by Professor Damien Franklin.'
"Dear gods, Franklin?! After all this time?"
"But how?"
"Shit, he knows how to disrupt our teleportation system!!!"
The High Mage held up a hand to quiet them. "I have a few observations to make before you all succumb to hysteria and start seeing Mad Franklin in every shadow." He paused until they quieted, and then continued.
"Firstly, yes, it seems Damien Franklin is alive and well."
"Secondly, he has invented a device that will disrupt a teleportation network, but we need to look at what happened. All of the other stones are functioning, and only the stone at the rift was destroyed, the one Winter was using to attack. Therefore I conclude that while Damien had the ability to hurt us, he chose not to. Amazing in and of itself."
"Thirdly, he attacked Winter, shutting down their attack, wounding and possibly killing the Dragon they hoped to send to attack us, and destroying what was left of the apparatus in the rift. I can only guess they annoyed him somehow and were disrupting one of his experiments. And yes, I understand the implications and I'm worried that he is experimenting with teleportation again."
He looked around at the assembled mages and then the snoring Fire Mage curled up in a corner. "I don't want a word of this to leave the room! As shocking as it may be, it seems to be the case that we were saved by Damien Franklin. He may be one of the greatest criminals we've ever known, but in the end, he fought for his homeland against the invaders. Now, someone please help my new apprentice down to the infirmary. I'm going to be taking him under my wing and keeping an eye on him. Anyone who can survive an encounter with a hostile dragon has the strength of spirit needed to join our ranks."
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Dozens of Ice Mages and their minions surrounded what was left of the Arcane College of Runecasters in the Barony of Crystalthorn. They were taking their time breaking past the defensive barriers and magical wards of the warmlander mages. The storm raging around them did half their work for them. They were concealed by the swirling snow, and any mage leaving their warm fortress would be half dead in minutes. The warmlanders were still fighting, but they were worn down by weeks of combat against foes that barely had to exert themselves. Wolves and Ice Elementals patrolled empty hallways, constantly testing the barriers. It was a game to Winter, one that was never in doubt.
Close by was a mound of ice and rock, all that remained of the Sanitarium. In the topmost room, Callendish Maer sat in his small study, ignoring everything except for his books and notes. His minions had finally gotten the message and quit asking his opinion or trying to give him reports. One in particular...what was his name? Oh, didn't matter, had taken charge of things when he regained his voice and had the others running scared. Callendish didn't care, as long as he could continue his research in peace. The Dragon was doing splendidly, thrashing about and causing chaos. Everything was going to plan.
Until it wasn't.
The storm began to condense and feed into the ruins of the tower. Over a period of a day, its area shrunk by half as the Dragon called on its power and today the storm had gone wild and then poured into the ruins, leaving the skies clear. A series of explosions echoed through the rubble, and then everything was quiet. Callendish Maer knew immediately that the Dragon was gone, and so was the steady flow of mana into the warmlander teleportation system. The only thing he sensed below with the rift pouring mana upward to where it became trapped underground.
Order Fallowstone and the remaining mages in the Collegium also knew the storm had departed. They'd heard it howling outside for so long that the silence was eerie. The High Mage of the college quickly summoned his power and sent three magical messengers, praying the little air elementals could make the journey. He knew immediately when the first two reached Wolfsburg, and later when the last reached the ear of the Emperor himself. Now, they just had to wait. It was a two-day journey by carriage to the nearest teleporter. Fast cavalry would arrive quicker, but he needed more than men on horses to deal with what Winter had brought here. His enemies wouldn't be playing the next time they assaulted his defenses.
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In the Imperial Palace, Emperor Gustavus listened to his advisors and then made his own decision. "I hear you all, and your advice is good, but this is not the time for planning. We must attack quickly to throw Winter into confusion and aid our allies in need. It's not a coincidence they struck at Crystalstone. We have more Fire Mages in training there than anywhere else. We will send our best and our fastest. Do we have the mana to move two centuries of Legion Cavalry?"
As if summoned by the question, High Mage Ostenhoffer entered the room, "Enough to get started and I know where we can get more. The Baron of Gadobhra will have more than enough mana in his Baron and in Rowan Keep for our needs. We will send our troops to Wolfsburg, and then from there to Karsenhoff, the closest stone to the Collegium."
"Good, good. Strange how the devious and troublesome Baron William is the one of my barons who is the most helpful today. How many Veteran Battle Mages can we send? They have to be able to ride a horse at a fast pace for hours, sleep on the ground, and fight when they arrive. This will be a fast trip and there is no time to assemble and wait for a baggage train."
Several mages in the room hastily lowered their hands. Fighting in a glorious battle was one thing, but doing so after two days on a horse and sleeping on the ground was another thing entirely. Ostenhoffer thought for a moment, and then said, "Six here in the Capitol, and I can go myself."
The Emperor shook his head. "I need you to get the travel system back up. We have trouble brewing in the South in two places. Six will have to do, along with anyone we can get from Wolfsburg."
"Master Cauldrius is in Wolfsburg. He's been keeping busy with his new apprentice, hunting Ice Mages and knocking down buildings."
Gustavus laughed at that, "Good, tell him we have more of the vermin to stamp out, and to gather what people he can and take charge of the Battle Mages when they arrive. Inform the Duke and Duchess that I need the Red Company for this, and I'm picking up the costs. Pull General Themis from Rowan Keep and tell her to take command. Speed is essential. Speaking of which..." The Emperor wrote a quick note, stamped his seal upon it, and handed it to a messenger.
"Take that to Franklin House. Ask Lady Harmonia if she doesn't mind taking a small vacation and bringing along a couple of dozen of her relatives." There were nods all around the courtroom. House Franklin excelled at speed, causing trouble, and riding to the rescue.
Comments
Ender419
Thanks for the great chapter! Hopefully Callendish Maer gets caught for his schemes and crimes against the empire. The most interesting thing for me is how the emperor tagged Billy as devious, hopefully that was a subtle compliment to the guy who manages the town they gave him his summer yacht.
MadRat
Thx for the chappie 👍👏👏
NameGame
I agree with Kensai and Aaron. Billy is very mercenary, if it makes him money it's good. Ozzy is affecting his bottom line in a very big way, and falls back to Butchering and smoking meats and selling them (often in large quantities) in his downtime. I can't imagine Billy wanting to take Ozzy off of his highly profitable adventures to have him doing normal drudge work. Even just the trade connection to Smoke, which nobody else has, is enough that encouraging more of his adventures is a good thing.
NameGame
"I can only guess they annoyed him somehow and were disrupting one of his experiments." This had me laughing out loud. Great chapter, thanks.
Aaron Hathaway
Billy gets a cut of Ozzy's sales. So the answer is none. Especially when you consider he just his Ducal taxes waved.
Kensai
I would say Ozzy’s job responsibilities have changed. He is now more a facilitator, opening opportunities for the Baron.
Forestfire
One begins to wonder how many hours/days of work Ozzy has missed. I mean as a percentage of required hours to date?
The El Bandito
Yay, the group finally gets to meet Harmony. Hopefully grandma Harmonia tags along. I see her and Ozzy getting along splendidly. I’m really hoping for a scene of Harmonia getting hit on by Cauldrius.
Felix H.
Gustav himself as side (cause he seems to be a good lad), I reckon the reaction will be what is the usual when "powerful" people become aware of powerful and competent people. They gonna first crap their pants, then try to throw the biggest wrenches they can find into the gears and then, when that doesn't work produce enough fear induced nightsoil, to make farmers in 50 kilometers radius happy...
Heather White
Yessssss… an all-star expedition! Damien hailed (quietly) as the country’s savior. It’s a great day for science!! I laughed thinking that Gus had no way to know that the ‘apprentice’ in the report (hunting Ice Mages and knocking down buildings) was his birthday’s spicy sausage vendor. Eventually he, like others, will realize that that man is at the center of so many (too many?) exciting events in his empire. I wonder what his response will be.
Aaron Hathaway
Tftc
