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Sexy Steampunk Babes: Chapter Thirty Four
🕑 Added 2024-07-07 15:23:52 +0000 UTC‘Ninety percent of sapient communication is non-verbal.’
Truth be told, Piper wasn’t entirely sure where she’d first heard that bit of trivia, but the dwarf woman had never found cause to disagree with it. In her experience, communication, more often than not, was more about the subtle gestures that preceded words than the words themselves.
Especially in politics.
Her current position was a prime example of that fact in action. Stood together with the two other ‘powers’ of the newly formed Redwater countship, they appeared to their arriving lord as the leaders of the three factions that made up his new home.
Because, behind each of them stood their ‘troops’ – though in truth, only Lady Stillwater could lay claim to having any actual warriors under her command.
Glancing over at the the crown’s recently appointed interim-governess, the dwarf noted that the aristocratic looking blonde human had a quartet of marine-knights behind her, a platoon of royal marines behind them, and finally a dozen members of the county’s household guard behind them.
Her group, by far, made for the most impressive sight on display. They stood in neatly ordered rows, weapons and armour shined the night before until they practically gleamed in the morning light. Even the county militia in the back rows looked reasonably impressive in their recently re-dyed Redwater red, blue and white gambesons – and a lot less like the motley collection of part time huntresses and trappers they actually were most of the time.
Piper also knew that said motley crew would much rather be standing behind the woman to Piper’s left, rather than where they were currently.
Marine-knight, former interim-governess and now chief-headwoman for the dozen or so villages and the single town that comprised the newly renamed Redwater county, Xela Tern’s following was easily the largest present – and the most disorganized.
More a mob than anything else, the elk-like wood elf’s followers flowed out from behind her like a cape, before looping around the periphery of the landing field and into the many streets that surrounded it.
Dolcaster wasn’t a large town by any stretch, but it seemed a not insignificant amount of both the settlement’s populace and that of the surrounding villages’ had shown up for the arrival of the county’s new lord.
To their credit though, not one of the collection of peasants present for the arrival of their new lord had actually stepped onto the gravel covered landing strip, either common sense or the stern gaze of their village leader’s keeping them from taking that final step forward.
Well, that and a small collection of Regina’s marines, Piper thought.
Because as much as she knew the human would have preferred the added visual weight that would have come with having that extra squad of royal marines added to her numbers, all the subtle power plays in the world wouldn’t make up for their lord being unable to land because some idiot wandered onto the gravel at the worst moment.
…Or better yet, said lord stepping off the ramp to find one of his constituents smeared beneath his airship’s landing gear.
And if Xela Tern were a more political animal she’d be taking advantage of that fact to throw proverbial mud on her replacement’s name by having a few villagers get unruly.
Of course, if she was a more political animal, she probably wouldn’t have been replaced in the first place, Piper thought as she regarded the wood elf.
Indeed, that lack of political niceties and smarts was likely why she’d been placed into the role of interim-governess in the first place. Despite acting as custodian for these lands for nearly four decades, the woman had never once thought to try to leverage those years of service or the support of the populace to try to elevate herself to countess in truth.
Which was why it had likely come as such an unexpected surprise for the rural knight when Stillwater arrived six months ago with a royal writ appointing the human woman as the wood elf’s replacement.
To be fair, the wood elf had been offered another position as interim-governess in a more prestigious location – replacing a woman whose performance had been lacking – but the wood elf had refused.
Much to Stillwater’s consternation, as it now meant she had a political rival sticking around who was much loved by the populace of the territory she’d been sent to administrate. A rival she couldn’t legally send elsewhere as while Tern had never been officially made a countess, she did still own a small plot of land nearby.
Certainly, Stillwater had other means of removing the wood elf if needed, but using any of them ran the risk of upsetting the local populace with whom she was already unpopular for replacing the wood elf in the first place.
Amongst other reasons…
So in short, Tern wasn’t going anywhere unless she chose to.
Though whether she was sticking around in the hopes of regaining her old position or out of genuine love for the lands and people with whom she’d been living for the last forty years, Piper didn’t know.
What the dwarf did know was that the knight wasn’t exactly shy about using her new position as ‘chief headwoman’ to right any wrongs she believed either Stillwater – or Piper herself – to be engaged in.
Which led to the third faction.
Her faction.
The ‘fuck it all, I don’t care who’s in charge, just let me get to work’ faction.
Hell, she’d have preferred it wasn’t even a faction in the first place. As far as she was concerned, the crown was the one paying the bills, Stillwater had been appointed by the crown, Piper worked for her. Certainly, she wasn’t exactly pleased that the Alchemist’s guild had been uprooted from their old headquarters in the capital proper to be carted across the country as a gift for some… kid, but that still beat bankruptcy.
Which was exactly what her guild had been facing prior to Stillwater arriving at her door with a request for her and her people to lead a large-scale construction effort in a nearby county. Something that was well within the skillset of a guild that had been forced to… diversify in the face of their growing disinterest in their actual speciality.
Something the Crown was well aware of.
So… she worked for the Crown – and their coin.
…Unfortunately, she couldn’t just say that.
After all, not all of the workers behind her had been brought in from out of town. Amidst the small army of blacksmiths, stonecutters, carpenters, alchemists, druids, mage-smiths and who knew what else, there was a small but noticeable population of people that had been drawn in from the local county.
Which made sense, the facilities they’d spent the last six months building were not small, and they’d generated a lot of paying jobs. Jobs the locals were happy to be paid to do, just so long as they weren’t seen to be ‘betraying the old governess’ by siding with the enemy.
Thus, Piper found herself propped up as the ‘moderate’ choice between the two factions. A woman who sided with neither side and was focused entirely on the work of building the many workshops that would facilitate the wishes of the county’s new lord. It wasn’t true, of course, but it kept the local workers on track and for that reason Piper was willing to go along with the charade. And so was Stillwater, in public.
Still, as she gazed up towards the airship that was even now venting aether from its ballasts as it slowly came in to land, the dwarf could only hope their new lord would be equally as understanding of the reason for their ongoing deception.
She imagined he would.
He’d arrived on a Royal Sloop after all. And as far as non-verbal communications went, that kind of statement was about as unsubtle as they came.
William Ashfield-Redwater was just like her, a puppet playing at independence while dancing to the tune of invisible golden strings.
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Xela hadn’t known what to expect of the new lord of Greyriver-
Redwater, she corrected mentally for the umpteenth time. Redwater. Redwater. Redwater…
The last thing she needed was for the old name to slip out in conversation with the land’s new lord. Oh, it was possible he’d see it for the honest slip it was, but it was also just as likely he’d see it as a form of subtle protest against his rule.
Most noble types were like that. Real nobles. Not like her. The ones that were born to it.
Yeah, he’d definitely think she was being all rebellious when she wasn’t. Mulch below, she’d known from the day she’d taken the post of interim-governess that her time as de facto lady of the land would be finite.
That was just how things were.
With that said, just because she was no longer the hand at the tiller didn’t mean she intended to vacate the wheelhouse entirely. She cared about these lands. These people. And she intended to continue to look out for them.
No matter what some limp-wristed slimy palace toady might prefer, she thought, aiming a gimlet eye in the direction of Lady Stillwater.
Turning her gaze from her replacement, the wood elf watched as the titled, but not yet ritually elevated, Count Redwater approached.
He was handsome. That was the first thing she noticed – mostly because she was a red-blooded woman who knew what she liked. After that though… he was less of a wilting greenbean than she’d expected.
Not like most of the men she’d attended the academy with. There was a confidence in his stride that she wouldn’t have normally expected from a young man his age who’d just been effectively shoved into a position of leadership far beyond what might normally be expected of him.
On cue, Lady Stillwater stepped forward to greet him, and though it burned her to let the woman get the first word in, there was nothing she could do about it just yet.
“Lord Redwater,” the toad began, having to speak up to be heard over the dull roar of the crowd. “It’s a pleasure to finally meet you. I’m Regina Stillwater and it has been my privilege to act as the interpreter of your will on our Queen’s behalf for the last six months.”
“The pleasure is all mine, and I thank you for your efforts on our behalf.” The boy’s gaze flitted past the woman to the royal marines behind her, before back to her. “And I must begin by apologizing for not having made it out here sooner. As you might imagine, between my studies and other obligations, well, it’s been busy. With that said, my enquiries to her highness always left me assured that everything was well in hand.”
Xela twitched a little at the man’s apologetic tone.
A shame, rumours from the capital painted him as much more of a wildcat, she thought.
Of course, those same rumors suggested that his decision to duel his former-fiance over their upcoming nuptials had in fact been instigated by the Queen herself as a means of shaming the Blackstones, so she supposed she shouldn’t have been too surprised.
Indeed, her eyes flitted to where the now famous Olzenya Sumond was standing quietly behind the man, along with her other teammates.
Given that she was the one to singlehandedly down three members of said fiancée’s team, it was assumed that if the rumor of Ashfield being a royal catspaw was true, then the high elf was all but guaranteed to be his handler and puppeteer within the academy itself. Not to mention the real leader of Team Seven. At the very least, she was definitely the team’s ringer given her decidedly average academic scores prior to that fateful match.
“It is no issue at all, my lord. Our Queen was right in her words, and if you follow me, you shall see that work has been well on schedule to see the many projects you requested made ready for your much anticipated arrival. Ahead of schedule, even.”
Yes, at the cost of running my people ragged while paying them a pittance for their efforts, Xela thought irritably.
“I’ve little doubt,” the count said as he turned towards the main reason why most of the labourers set to keeping his requests on schedule hadn’t quit. “Indeed, I’ve been led to understand that the work of Lady Greyfall and people has been invaluable in that regard.”
The dwarf twitched a little as all eyes turned to her, before stepping forward in a slightly stilted manner. “A small part, my lord. Given that you apparently asked for the services of my people by name, I’ve been seeking to repay that faith in our guild by… giving my guidance to a number of project managers who were unaccustomed to tackling a project of the scale set before them without nearby senior guild oversight.”
“Unaccustomed?” The boy asked. “How so?”
Piper shifted uncomfortably before Stillwater slid in with a greasy smile. “What our dear guildmaster is trying to say is that many of the workers her majesty set aside for this task were young talents, simply in need of seasoning and not too set in their ways as of yet. Perfect for the sort of experimental work you’re expected to do here.”
“How… fitting,” the boy said slowly. “And I assume said decision has nothing to do with the capital’s current dire need for craftsmen of any description?”
Stillwater coughed. “It was a contributing factor yes, though one I’m sure you can understand.”
Xela smirked at the woman’s discomfort. It was a secret to no one that just about every guild in the capital was currently being employed by the crown to build everything from nails to entire ship hulls.
Indeed, it said a lot about just how much the Crown felt they owed the new Count Redwater that they’d been willing to part with the number of craftsmen they had – even if they weren’t the most experienced.
“I suppose I can,” Redwater sighed. “Even if it is irritating.”
His dwarvish teammate cocked her head. “Well, given that you’re apparently on track and everything’s not on fire, can we safely assume that William didn’t get a bunch of trainees?”
“They’re all licensed journeymen,” Piper was quick to point out. “As the interim-governess said, current circumstances meant that our coterie is a bit lacking in instructors or people with experience as project leads, but it was felt that my Alchemists could fill in there… given our more rounded education.”
Which was a polite way of saying that few people actually had much use for alchemists as alchemists and thus they’d had to become a guild full of handywomen.
…Which in turn begged the question of why this ‘William’ had asked for them specifically? Did the Kraken Slayer involve alchemy in some way? Was the boy more involved with the project than he let on? Had the work of the last six months been to create a new manufacturing site for kraken slaying devices?
It wasn’t the first time Xela had pondered those questions and she doubted it would be the last. At least until she was given more information on the topic. Because as much as the idea of her home becoming the manufacturing site for some kind of royal secret weapon filled her with a number of complicated emotions… it was also entirely possible that William Redwater just had an interest in alchemy. Or the Queen saw an opportunity to ‘repay’ the boy cheaply by making him the once impressive but now nearly bankrupt group’s head patron.
She just didn’t know. And until the facilities that made up the town’s new crafting district were ready to start production, that would likely continue to be the case.
“Well, my thanks regardless, guildmaster,” the mystery man said. “For stepping in to take charge of your colleagues and keeping things on track.”
He raised his voice to the crowd of craftsmen behind the dwarf, having to yell over the ambient noise of the townsfolk. “And my thanks to all of you for the work you’ve done thus far. I cannot yet say what the purpose of it all was, but I can say that I look forward to working with you in the future to amaze the entire world.”
Xela didn’t need to look back to know that all those men and women would be perking up with pride at his words. As Piper had said, they were a pretty young group, and while that youth presented issues, they were also to a woman hungry and ambitious. Stillwater hadn’t been entirely full of shit on that point. To hear her people talk about the newcomers, they were a talented group, just one that had yet to fully hit its stride.
Stillwater smiled, obviously happy that the small blackspot had been overcome as she turned to the new count. “I’m sure you and they will in time. With that said, would you care to take a tour of the facilities we’ve spent the last six months setting up? Lady Greyfall will be happy to answer any questions you might have while we do.”
The dwarf visibly held back a scoff, before she took on a more diplomatic tone. “Given that many of the troubles we might have faced due to inexperience were headed off by Lord Redwater’s exceedingly exacting plans for the layout of said facilities, I’ve little doubt my presence will be superfluous. With that said, I do actually have a few questions for him about some of the more obscure workshop items he had us procure.”
She paused. “If that’s fine with him?”
For the first time since he’d arrived, something akin to a genuine smile slipped across the young man’s face. “I’d be delighted, on both accounts.” He paused. “Though before then, don’t you intend to introduce me to our third member?”
Stillwater visibly frowned and Piper flinched as the boy’s gaze turned towards where Xela was standing, the heads of the various villages behind her.
“Ah… no need for that, my lord. She and her companions are simply members of the peasantry leadership who’ve turned out to witness your arrival. Hardly people you need spend time with.”
Xela felt said people shift irritably around her at the woman’s words, but Xela stilled them with a glance.
“It’s as she said, my lord,” she said as she sketched a bow. “We are simply representatives of your county’s many villages who’ve come to pay our respects to our new lord.”
Though her heart soared as the boy nodded. “All the more reason to get to know you then. I might be your lord, but I don’t yet know these lands. Not truly. Who better to learn from than the people who call them home.”
“It might be a little cramped in the carriage my lord,” Stillwater vainly attempted to intervene.
Which Xela was having none of. “If it would mean being of service to my lord in elucidating him on the realities of his new land and the people that dwell within, I would happily run alongside his carriage unto whatever destination and time he deigned to hear my words.”
The boy laughed, though it became somewhat stilted when he realized she was entirely serious.
“Well, when faced with such eagerness what response could I give but yes? Though there’ll be no need to go to such lengths. If I’m to be a decent pilot in the future, I imagine me and my team will have to grow accustomed to cramped spaces soon enough. To that end, I’m sure we can fit either yourself or one of your party into my carriage.”
He glanced back, at the massive ostentatious thing that Stillwater tended to ride around in – that technically belonged to the county and thus him now. “It certainly seems big enough for it.”
Xela bowed once more, hopes for the future of her home growing with every word. “I’m honoured, my lord. I can only hope my insights will prove worthy of your forbearance.”
------------------
Truth be told, much of the tour proved of little interest to Xela. She was an outdoorswoman first and foremost, and the endless parade of workshops, tools and machinery didn’t mean much to her.
It was interesting to note that their new lord proved to be rather evasive on what it was all for. Staying true to his word, he dodged Piper’s questions on the subject with, if not much in the way of skill or grace, then consistency.
So either the boy was keeping it close to his chest, or he had no idea what he intended to use it all for and everything had been built on a random whim. And as much as she wanted the latter idea to sound ridiculous, she’d spent enough time in the navy with real blue bloods to know that it was all too plausible.
For his part, the man asked the dwarf only a few questions, usually relating to the skills of disparate craftswomen or their experience with this or that material.
Questions that seemed to be of no help to their resident dwarf in figuring out his end goals for the facilities, given her somewhat puzzled expression as they walked into Stillwater’s office in the town hall.
An office that had once belonged to Xela herself, not that she’d ever used it for much. Being a hands-on person, she’d spent more days than not physically going out to address the issues of the populace, rather than letting them come to her. An approach that Stillwater seemed disinclined to emulate in any capacity given how she practically lived behind the desk present.
Still, desk-sitter or not, the woman had proven incredibly talented at keeping Xela from saying much to their new lord, skillfully inserting herself between them whenever their lord asked a question regarding the county.
Of which he’d had several, many more than he’d asked Piper. Mostly they’d been about the local industries. The farms. The logging industry. The nearby mine. How many people worked at each. How much each earned from trade and tariffs. What they produced. How many people lived in the town. How many in the nearby villages.
Questions that unfortunately, Stillwater had been more than capable of answering.
Still, we’re all in here now, I should have my chance, she thought as they each took a seat around the room’s long table.
Hopefully she could impress upon their new lord just how much his ongoing projects were costing the county in woman hours, coin and nearby resources like lumber and ore.
Which was bad, because if those resources were being used on construction, they weren’t earning coin through trade or tariffs. And while Xela didn’t mean to pat herself on the back too hard, but she’d built up quite a treasury in her time as governess – and as far as she could tell, Stillwater was going through it like a scythe through wheat in the name of fulfilling his construction timetable.
She needed to request that he slow down enough to rebuild the treasury somewhat.
…Before either he or Stillwater got the bright idea of raising taxes to maintain their current pace.
Greyriver- Redwater wasn’t affluent enough to survive a tax increase. Not without significant pain.
The question now was… how to phrase that in such a way that her new lord would listen? She was so preoccupied with the question that she nearly missed her lord’s first words as they settled down. Indeed, they took a few moments for her to register.
‘You’ve done a great job. I’m pleased her majesty sent you. You’re removed from your position as governess, and I would like you and her majesty’s royal marines to vacate my territory immediately?’
Indeed, Xela didn’t doubt she was the only one wondering if her ears were working as she glanced up to see a stunned room. Even the double pair of household guards and marines by the door were staring.
“E-excuse me?” Stillwater said. “I think I misheard you, my lord.”
“I doubt it.” The boy just shook his head, utterly uncaring of the confusion of both his subordinate’s and his team. “But I’ll repeat myself anyway. You’ve done a great job, I’m very impressed, I want you gone.”
To her credit, the woman rallied admirably. “Given you’ve just congratulated my efforts on your behalf, may I ask why?”
“I’ll do you one better. I’ll show you,” the count said before he turned to the door. “You four arrest this woman on the charge of… I don’t know… arson?”
Xela wasn’t surprised when the two household guardswomen stepped forward, though they hesitated the moment Stillwater’s hands came up threateningly.
Bureaucrat or not, the woman was a mage still.
Though the fact that that would make the guards slow rather than speed up irritated Xela. After all, this was an enclosed space and the blonde woman would need a few seconds to chant. If she’d trained her people better, they’d have known that and bum-rushed her the second her hands came up and they weren’t holding a bolt-bow.
Thoughts of a new training regime paused in her mind as she recalled that she wasn’t interim-governess anymore.
Still, the sudden threat of magical violence had her raise her own hands, while Piper dove to the floor and the members of the count’s cadet team brought up their own hands - and for a moment it seemed like a lot of people were about to start chanting.
Right up until the count, who’d remained seated, shouted. “Enough!”
Everyone froze.
“Enough.” He repeated, before turning to the two guards who’d frozen in place. “You two, good job. You may return to your posts.”
The two household guards hesitated in confusion, before visibly taking their hands off the pommels of their weapons and walking back to their spot by the wall - where the two royal marines were still standing, and while they’d certainly reached for their own weapons, it was only after the other two guards moved to threaten Stillwater.
Which made sense, they answered to her as the crown’s direct representative in the region.
“Does that answer your question?” the boy asked as he turned back to the visibly shaken blonde woman.
Silence rang across the room before both the boy’s dwarvish teammate and Piper both shouted at once with an eerie level of dwarvish synchronicity. “Like fuck it does!”
Comments
Richard Anderson
Interesting loyalty test, house guards moved on his order without question and the Marines showed they cannot be trusted with his secrets.
Blue Fishcake
Nah, slept for four hours or so, then woke up and finished up. Once the beta readers are done, I shall post this up and sleep once more. The sleep of the victorious :D
John
did you stay up all night writing??
Blue Fishcake
Beta readers have it :D
MarakEvans
Yaas. No Shame. Slay Queen. You probably got 10 hrs until pst becomes not today. Also... Words for the Word Count!
Eastman
He delayed the payment so we get 1 month free
R
Wait wht aren't you getting paid? Is patreon doing weird stuff
Dancingrage
The conundrum...words now or more words later....ack! That said, if you think it'll be better, go ahead.
SmallTownBo
Just go to sleep, it can wait.
Blue Fishcake
Chapter's 'finished' but there's an extra section I was originally going to put in the next chapter that I think works better in this one. I'm out of juice though and it's just about to turn midnight here in Aus. Fortunately, I ain't getting paid this month so I feel no shame in delaying again to get it to the point I'm happy with :P Not least of all because I can still have it out for 'Saturday' US time. That counts! With all that said, I can also post it up now - sans extra section - if ya'll desperately need it. Mostly I'm just posting this stuff so ya'll know what's going on :D
Marius Petrauskas
nice update
Oreo-belt25
It's been 24hours! Is it tommorrow yet...? 👉👈
Dancingrage
*facepalm*
Found&Lost
Is it tomorrow yet? How about now?
Found&Lost
I already told him. Yea there's quite a bit blue needs to do.
SmallTownBo
Stood together with the three other ‘powers’ of the newly formed Redwater countship, Saying three others would mean there are four factions. It would be standing together with the other two factions. Unless you're implying that Piper doesn't consider herself as part of the faction she's technically in, and counting them as separate. In which case, I think that should be more clear.
Jonathan Gibbons
More specifically, making elements heavier than iron just plain doesn't produce net energy, and past iron you get energy out when you split towards iron. It's the bottom of the hill that all elements roll towards. How "ran out of fresh energy to hold the star up against gravity" becomes "explodes" is a fascinating thing where the star basically falls in on itself - the problem is that it _hits_ itself at the bottom and that makes a pressure wave enough to set off a crapton of new fusion in the material that previously wasn't under enough pressure to fuse.
Blue Fishcake
Sometime tomorrow is the likely window as of this moment :D
MarakEvans
Hey Blue, How goes the recovery? Blink twice if there is a secret to doing the Darth Vader voice.
The Fire Piper
The excitement! The expectation! The next chapter is so close!
mike wade
No. Just no
Hunter
Am I the only one who remember our boy specifically saying he’s extremely “interested” in wood elves but is unlikely to ever meet one?…. Seems he’s ALREADY swooning her before he’s even really had a conversation with her.
Hunter
Yeah, at first I was thinking (but I knew better) that he was starting shit, it’s the kinda thing I’d do in my imagination without a real reason behind it… then I’d feel silly, but he readily demonstrated his point and it only took me a couple moments to realize it.
Found&Lost
Also, very start it should be TWO other 'powers'
MarakEvans
Agreed. But either way, we are talking about the perception of the masses. Doesn't mean reality will match it.
NeoJungleLover
Could be worse, don’t temp Him 😬
Spintool
I really hope William ends up, fighting his sister, The story telling potential and emotional impact would be amazing
Hue Man
yeah Blue Fishcake did completely skip 6 months. The end of this book will probably be the event with convincing the Ashfields to switch sides, and protecting Olivia from the Queen.
Folly Industries
We might get more time skips than not get 3 years of blow by blow of academy life.
Mark
Treason!
Morpheus
well they only think that because of the triple takedown, and are largely ignoring that that only happened because of the new weapons, Will running distraction duty, and the com beads. That and we've seen internal monologues from her side that imply to me that she is the disfavored sister passed over for some ultra talented golden child. If she was the secret 'real leader' of the team I think we'd have had hints before
Mikołaj
Its good for William that everyone will underestimate him. It will make his jpb easier.
Erik Hansen
Oh, Stillwater absolutely understands where William is coming from. She just has to play dumb about it because of her obligations to the Queen.
Erik Hansen
Well, they thought that because William was obviously a royal catspaw. They might be reevaluating that opinion in light of their meeting.
MarakEvans
Edit: Sorry, was mobile ranting about how fae hate iron and iron kills stars. Just wanted to cut it out of the original post. --- Our "breathable" atmosphere is different than what the universe puts out. Generally, stellar nucleosynthesis is as follows: Hydrogen fuses into Helium. Helium fuses into Oxygen and some Carbon. Oxygen fuses with Carbon into Silicon, Nitrogen, and others. Silicon fuses into Iron and others. In a star and under enough pressure each element fuses into the next releasing more energy with each reaction... except one issue. The production of Iron consumes way more energy than the stars in our universe can take. Typically, the star will collapse and expel whatever it can't gravitationally hold onto or... continue collapsing. ---
MarakEvans
We know that aether is primarily lighter than air. Our air is composed as follows: 78% Nitrogen 21% Oxygen >1% other Aether is probably lighter than Nitrogen and definitely lighter than Oxygen. We could have the magic equivalents of coal fire feeders with aether. Not sure if that is interesting though.
Kaywye
Hell...I never thought of that. She might BE a spy for the enemy...
Jon Thorn
Pretty much exactly my thoughts too. Betting it will be that the royal guards reached for their weapons that will be a hinging point.
mike wade
He hasn't surrendered yet, he can't be French!
Found&Lost
Thanks!
Hue Man
I am excited to see what future interactions with Piper and Xela will be like, but since William will spend most of his time at Blikland Academy. Interesting to see that others think Olzenya is the true leader of team 7.
Luke Payne
Not even really compotent, as she is burning through the stored resources of his lands at an unsustainable rate.
Luke Payne
Simple answer, Stillwater is loyal to the crown, and William intends to betray the crown eventually. As such, he needs his lands to be loyal to him alone. Can't do that when he has a spy working for the crown.
Luke Payne
William was from North Korea confirmed.
Blue Fishcake
I'll be going over the chapter later with edits for clarity :D
Found&Lost
Could you append the last name to piper when she's introduced. The lady greyfall switch can make it harder to follow than necessary. I get that due to circumstances of formality the names will go back and forth between first and last, but it would be easier to have them attached at the start
Blue Fishcake
Thanks, I'll go back and give it an edit :D
Random Information
I agree. Thinking it over, maybe you could have the Queen mention some of the new characters in the previous chapter? E.g. "I wonder what William will make of Piper, the Head of the Alchemists?" or "Regina Stillwater will manage William's land and keep tabs on him." Then we know who Piper is in this chapter rather than wondering if she is some previous character that we have forgotten.
Jacob
"William, why did the plans have so many fire fighting stations next to & *inside* the alchemist guild?"
Jay
No she was perfectly prepared to handle a noble boy of Lindholm. She put on an excellent show, made sure every single one of his demands was fulfilled, and made an excellent attempt at isolating him from the population so that she could be the de facto ruler of his domain. The fact that will isn't a typical noble boy is the only reason it didn't work.
Jay
If Stillwater could be turned, then she could be turned back. She'd always be a threat.
Lanze
Yeah that's kinda of how I've gone through most of this series. A lot of confusing places people and names. If the author is okay with that then no change necessary, but he seems to be going more into political intrigue with this one, and I really don't want to miss out on something he is spending so much time creating lol
Floplays
cool explaining chapter tho it felt a little short to read
Floplays
yea same thing here, except that i didnt read it over and am now fine with only knowing like half of what i happening and assuming the rest
Sea Wolf
"Why do you want me out?" "Because I refuse to be competing for ultimate power in my own territory, which I very much would be with all the best trained warriors more loyal to you than me." -- I mean, it tracks. Stillwater might be enough of a political animal to realize that. We shall see next week I suppose. On an unrelated note, hurray for what seems to be a longer term wood elf character. And interesting that rabbit ears are not the only variety. Mayhap they sport all manner of animal features? Interesting if so. Perhaps they were shaped by the power of their homeland, much as the high and dark elves seem to be shaped by the environment of theirs.
Kaywye
Okay. I kinda figured this issue would come up. William has got to clear out all those who are loyal to the queen, because it's not their job to be. It's their job to be loyal to him, and his job to be loyal to the queen. Nicely written.
Lanze
Feedback: I had to re read that entire first section twice in order to understand who was who. You do a lot of introducing a new character by having them talk about other people first, which is okay when it's 2 people, but with Three people it's very confusing! Who "she" or "they" refers to is very unclear several times!
Business Casual
I imagine aether would be it's own power source. Maybe not up to nuclear standards, but I assume Will could find a way to get it to modern standards. Or at least up to 1900s-1940s based on it powering WWI era "blimps" And WWII era planes.
MarakEvans
"Begrudgingly" sanctioned.
MarakEvans
FYI, nuclear power plants use steam turbines/engines. Given that a steam engine is one of the most efficient methods to generate usable power, I would expect them to be used in conjunction with aether related mechanisms.
MarakEvans
People think she almost Aced a third year team as a first year. Surely, some rumors and gossip will spread. Hell, if she looks anything like she is related to the Solite or Lunite ruling class... Later on, some might accuse her of being a spy for the enemy.
The Fire Piper
Lol, good to see another Piper. :D Now if she can play flaming bagpipes, I will be immensely happy.
Jason Dortch
Think they are still in sail. It’s what I remember at least from the kracken incident….
MarakEvans
!
Morpheus
Amusing that people now think that Oz has been sandbagging and is secretly some kind of super ace.
Dancingrage
After I wrote this, I had a brainwave. William really is about to build a royalty-sanctioned Project Mayhem in that fucking county, isn't he?
Mikołaj
What type of propulsion do the water ships in that world use? Did they figure out the coal powered steamboats or still use sail? Does William have plans for steam engine?
Dancingrage
The First Rule of the Skunkworks: You do not talk about the Skunkworks. The Second Rule of the Skunkworks: YOU DO NOT TALK ABOUT THE SKUNKWORKS! The Third Rule of Skunkworks: You work on your task, report what you did or made, you clock out, your shift is over. The Fourth Rule of Skunkworks: Leave your preconceived notions at home, we are working on crazy, world-breaking shit in these halls. The Fifth Rule of Skunkworks: You cannot work on cool shit if you're dead or injured. Make sure you're using your protective gear at all times, and follow safety regulations. The Sixth Rule of Skunkworks: You cannot work on cool shit if you can't see or hear. Make sure you keep your eye and ear protection on at all times. The Seventh Rule of Skunkworks: When working on cool shit, take your time. It's more important to make sure the cool shit is built right than built fast. The Eighth and Final Rule of Skunkworks: When the cool shit is done being built....we ALL get to watch it go boom!
SmallTownBo
I imagine the two guards that moved aren't part of the royal troop, but guards of Redwater proper. The reason why he wants Stillwater and the royal guards gone is because, as has been shown time and again, William does not like having Yelenas nose sticking in his business. Stillwater is a representative of the crown, not of him. Her interests align with Yelena, not Williams. Although Yelena and Williams agenda shares a lot, they have different priorities. So the two guards that moved to arrest her are loyal to the lord of Redwater. The two guards that didn't are loyal to the crown representative. He wants only people loyal to him, and his agenda.
Peacekeeper
WHAT THE FUCK IS A KILOMETER RAHHHH 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🦅🦅🦅🦅
Papa Pepperoni
Truly Bamboozled
The Fire Piper
Hahahahaha! That was a delightful scene at the end!
Bas van Lissum
Great chapter again!!
Blue Fishcake
To be fair, Red, White and Blue are also the national colors of: The USA The UK France Slovenia Australia New Zealand North Korea Cuba Thailand The Dominican Republic Norway Etc. It's a very common set of colors because they're iconic :D Edit: And I just read the comment above mine where they said the same joke :P
Andrew Lechner
The Royal marines answer to stillwater, who in turn supposedly answers to William but really answers to the queen, who William also answers to. William does not want the queen having any more influence with him than she already does, and so wants everyone in his territory to answer to him first, queen second, a test Stillwater and the marines failed.
Erik Hansen
William is a vassal of the Queen, but is not her creature. She had to extort him pretty severely to get a promise of the Kraken Slayer formula out of him. If the Queen is playing hardball, then William should play hardball, and as the Count he has authority over the interim governess; this means its a problem for him if the royal marines are double checking with her before acting.
werotan
Divided loyalties...
bob semple
Oh it absolutely is. I'm just bullshitting out other countries with the same color pattern
NeoJungleLover
All good g, as long as You keep them coming :D
NeoJungleLover
Time to hire a nice looking instructor who happens to also be countles (or something like that)
The Overlad McGuffen
There are many countries whose colours are red white and blue besides America. Britain , France, Russia just to name 3 off the top of my. 28 in total
Galven Star
Oh those poor women have no idea what they're dealing with.
Allen Mainville
I think I get it. With how he did that he immediately showed off that the locals were willing to comply with his orders, whereas the royal marines waited until they saw where the loyalties of the locals laid, to see who they ought to side with.
Moonlightwind
I know this isn’t related to much of the chapter, but I hope his team becomes his family unit. They’re very diverse, which is a big statement in of itself, they trust him already so he wouldn’t have to convince potential suitors to defer to him, they’re also not afraid to argue with him and try to keep him in check, and they’re adorable as a group. That’s usually how it works for men at the academy anyway, so might as well just go for it, only problem is he likes older women so he might have to wait a while.
Papa Pepperoni
Guess I'll have to reread the series later today for a double check, couldn't remember if a country of origin was stated. And with the red, white and blue, plus the love for guns and explosives I thought it was an allusion to USA
Galven Star
Not that on the nose, red, white, and blue are the 3 most common colors on flags(used on 74%, 71%, and 50% of current flags, respectively), he could theoretically be *gags* French.
Footbraclet
Ahhh the king of cliffhangers continues his work.
Firstname Lastname
Makes gunpowder and wears red, white, and blue heraldry. 🦅
Prometheus
Badly trained gaurds, a hemorrhaging budget, zero goodwill built among her people, and an unwavering focus on the pompous glamour of politics rather than it's Meat, lady stillwater doesn't even seem like a competent Puppet. A good poppet would at least keep things in a sustainable holding pattern.
Carlos Torres
Who is your boss? The Queen. Get Out. Who is your boss? You. Good.
bob semple
On purpose. William is from Nepal. Or Slovenia I think.
Andrew Lechner
Ah, William is not skipping a beat when it comes to asserting his control over his territory, and the governess can do nothing about it since the Queen needs William happy and willing to work far more than she needs control over his territory. William is going to use this opportunity to build a local power base separate from the support the Royals provide, and I can't wait to see what he does with it.
blaze87b
Best colors around. My headcanon is that their official uniforms look like the continental army's uniforms
Nicholas Roberts
I may be stupid, but let me see if I can figure out what William meant. Was he meaning that his authority was threatened by the presence of Stillwater, since the royal marines answered to her? So basically if she stayed, he'd be constantly having to fend off political threats from her and her enforcers? Eagerly awaiting the community to talk about this chapter because I'm a bit confused by it.
Larynx Punchworthy
So if I’m reading this correctly, she’s too competent, has the loyalty of too many people, and William either isn’t sure who she answers to, or knows exactly who she answers to. Regardless, she’s a potential future threat to his power
RJKY
Stillwater & The ROYAL Marines are NOT loyal to HIM.
Andrew
Thank you!
mike wade
I'm confused by the ending. It just seems like a dick move by will.
Peacekeeper
>American transmigrates into fantasy world >Makes gunpowder o7
bob semple
Manufacturing sight to site
Carlos Torres
Piper was closer to the truth than she realized. He's a puppet to the golden strings of FREEDOM!!!
Dragoongfa
Hmm; interesting power play by William. He wants people that will be loyal to him alone, he could in time turn Stillwater to his side BUT time is at a premium and he can't take the risk of greed induced treason. So kick the political animals out and keep the locals and the doers. At least these two factions don't have tangible connections with the outside world.
Papa Pepperoni
So the colors of Redwater's seem to be red, white and blue. Were those mentioned earlier and I didn't see that? Also did William choose those colors himself, or just a crazy coincidence?
Mark
Ah I have truly come to enjoy this. Looking forward to see what William can do to optimize building.
Blue Fishcake
:D It's on the nose... but damn if those aren't good colors. If it makes you feel better, imagine it as a mix of British and French Napoleonic era uniforms :P
mike wade
Motherfucker, was will American in his past life? The red white and blue uniforms is pretty on the nose.
Phlojem
I was just about to fall asleep, glad I got something to read before I doze off
Blue Fishcake
It's still Sunday in the US! It still counts! (Sorry, my 'quick rewrite of the final section proved not to be as quick as I'd anticipated :P)
