《Pagan Merchant, Merchant of the God of Trade.》 1. The Apostate 1. The Apostate In a land where the Church of Order, Light and Truth competed, Mercurius was a simple Church of Truth member. Shaved head, green eyes and a moderate height, skin tanned in the sun amongst the urban sprawl of what once was a great city, the city of ¡®Byz''. There amongst the ruins of what was once an empire, in the market stalls, an old man sold a small stone statue, a man on a chariot. ¡°The old gods live in this one,¡± the old man said simply. ¡°Quiet old man, you can be arrested for saying such things,¡± Mercurius said, acidly, and with paranoia, turning around to look if anyone was listening. ¡°Hoh, but it¡¯s true, you¡¯ll see.¡± ¡°How much?¡± Mercurius asked. ¡°For this one, nothing,¡± the old man said, ¡°pray to it, and tell me what it tells you.¡± ¡°But that is blasphemy!¡± Mercurius said. ¡°Pft¡­ choose to believe me or not, that is your problem.¡± ¡°Is it now¡­¡± Mercurius thought. Other passers by looked at the strange old man, and the young man who was looking at the statue. ¡°Hide it quickly, they will destroy it,¡± the old man whispered, ¡°it¡¯s a wonderful piece of art is it not?¡± He stared at Mercurius to agree. He leaned over, his eyes staring at the young man, waiting for an affirmative. ¡°Sure, I guess.¡± He looked with confusion at the old man, wandering back to his little home, an apartment in the centre of the city of Byz. There was not much else there but dust, Mercurius worked in the docks, but he had been fired recently. Dust clouded up. The markets were mostly empty, the Church bells of the Church of Truth rang, economic activity was slow, and a decaying Empire was now just a mere rump. Some lunatic preacher began shouting. ¡°The Church of Light are liars, their ways, Emperor Basil pays them tribute. Tribute to Uruq god damn them. And Balna has converted to them, they make the unfaithful pay extra taxes. They even make us share a quarter with their filth!¡± The preacher shouted down at the bedraggled masses. Mercurius was medium height of some 1.78 metres not that much shorter than the preacher, who stared at him and then walked on ahead. Purple flags of Byz flew over the battlements. The city down below looked precarious and poor. What the hell did that old man give me? He hid it in his jacket before putting it on a dusty table top. A stone statue to a strange deity. ¡°Is that the God of Trade?¡± Mercurius whispered, ¡°this old man wants me to believe in fairytales.¡±The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings. He knew of the God of Trade from books, some of the old Gods that were once worshipped across the continent, now usurped by the three monotheistic faiths that dominated. He stared at the statue a little longer, hearing the ravings of Church of Truth priests. ¡°Well they can do earth magic, The Church of Light can do fire magic, and the Church of Order can supposedly cast down lightning bolts. Ah whatever,¡± he paused and took a deep breath, ¡°I believe in the God of Trade and wish to be a follower of him or whatever.¡± ¡°That will do,¡± a voice said in his head, ¡°simply put, worship me, and you will get God Powers. Trade Points I will call them. You need 100 of them to teleport. That statue creates roughly 1 a second. But first you have to claim it.¡± Mercurius tapped the statue and it began feeding into his power, before meditating to it, 2 Trade Points instead of 1 flooded into him. He teleported to the local pottery manufactory, realising what he had done he gasped. He waited 50 seconds and teleported into what was Balna. The nation north of Byz that had recently converted to the Church of Light; the state had converted, the people were still in the process of abandoning the Church of Truth, the religious taxes making the job easier. ¡°Lets try not get burnt alive by those savages,¡± Mercurius muttered. As it turned out, he wondered into a local Balnan village near a forest. The village was productive, it seemed to produce wood and food, mostly game. ¡°We will convert to the church of light and pay less taxes, enough of this nonsense,¡± a man said. Mercurius wandered in, local peasants immediately stared at him. ¡°Welcome to Marston, what can I do for you?¡± A local notable said, clearly not very friendly. ¡°I am a merchant,¡± Mercurius nodded, trying to convince himself. ¡°Are you now?¡± The man said, ¡°from where?¡± ¡°Byz?¡± ¡°Ah that shithole huh? Well if you deign us with your presence, at least show us some coin.¡± ¡°Ah, right¡­¡± Mercurius said, I don¡¯t have any. The village notable immediately began laughing like he heard the funniest thing in the world. Other villagers quickly joined in. ¡°Can I borrow some coin?¡± Mercurius asked. ¡°You have nothing to offer as collateral¡­ hang on, you do,¡± the notable said. ¡°I do?¡± ¡°Sure, slavery is legal in Balna, so how much do you want to borrow, I reckon, given you are a young man, what age are you sir?¡± ¡°24?¡± ¡°50 Balnan silver, that¡¯s what you are worth, I give you a week to pay it back. After a week, give me 60 silver back, that clear?¡± The man said. Well he can help plough the fields or something. Two bags with 25 Balnan silver coins were given. They had the distinct image of the regal king of Balna on one side wearing a crown, and on the other Balna was represented by a ¡®B.¡¯ For fifteen minutes Mercurius meditated, then he went to the library where he stared at a map of the world. There he saw the illustration and description mention the Raja states, and Xong to the east, Moru to the south, Peria a well known church of Order state. He then went to buy wood, mulling over the various choices he could do. Uruq, Hitara or the Church of Light states were possible, but not too enticing. I need a place where a pagan will not stand out too much. But I suppose Balna is a Church of Light country, so they should be willing to do business with their co-religionists¡¯ coins¡­ probably. He did business in Moru first, selling the wood there and returning with 120 Moru silver coins. They had a significant wood deficit, so any wood was very welcome in their markets. He returned back to Marston and gave the notable his capital back, albeit Moru coins were in fact more valuable than Balna coins, but he nonetheless didn¡¯t begrudge taking 60. The figure stared at Mercurius with awe, examining the trader who now resided in the village. Mercurius owned nothing in Byz. Now he had a future. The local notable inviting him in, robbed of a reason to refuse him. ¡°I for sure, thought I would have a slave¡­¡± the notable whispered, ¡°well this works too.¡± What about that old man? I still don¡¯t know how this works, I need his help. If I can find him, perhaps I can work this out. I need more statues, if I teleport too much, I will use up the God Power. Enough Trade Points, and maybe I can reverse the situation. But to think I would become a pagan. Worshipping some lost god from long ago. I need to thank that old man. He teleported into Byz and began looking. 2. Mardonius 2. Mardonius The old man was hard to find, partly because he seemingly did not appear. The markets were empty, and Church of Truth preachers were ranting and raving. The Church of Light had a quarter in the city and their preachers were trying to convert the locals with rather aggressive sermons. ¡°We will smite you and force you to pay extra taxes! Convert to the Church of Light and your lives will be easier. Enough of the suffering. Can you not see that your god has forsaken you. Our god is true, yours is false!¡± Men gifted with fire magic, began blasting flames, and the locals watched in awe. ¡°Verily, do you not see that our god is true!¡± Another Church of Light man said. Mercurius dodged them, and dodged the Church of Truth preachers as well. He walked to the bazaars, and there near a blacksmith was the old man. ¡°Ah I see you have returned, have you done what I said?¡± ¡°Sure,¡± Mercurius said, ¡°can we talk around the back.¡± He grabbed the old man¡¯s shoulder and teleported him to his dusty apartment. ¡°Damn, what have you¡­¡± ¡°The God of Trade,¡± Mercurius confided in the old man, ¡°you have any idea where you can get more of these?¡± ¡°I have at least one more, but I can make more,¡± the old man said. ¡°Then do so, it is of utmost importance.¡± ¡°The next one will be made of bronze,¡± the old man said. ¡°I am Mercurius, and I¡¯ve already made some coin thanks to your gift, let me buy you a drink at least.¡± ¡°Go trade some more,¡± the old man said, ¡°Mercurius, we are close allies for no one else worships the God of Trade.¡± ¡°You didn¡¯t know,¡± Mercurius said. ¡°I didn¡¯t,¡± Mardonius said, ¡°but I will direct my prayers to it, it seems to be doing a lot of good.¡± ¡°It certainly is,¡± Mercurius said. The old man gave another statue, a man on a chariot, a statue made of stone. Mercurius tapped it, and he felt the Trade Points accumulate. ¡°Make me more, and I will bring you coin,¡± Mercurius said. He teleported the man back to the blacksmith where he had been before, the old man now smirked and winked at him. ¡°Can you tell me of iron prices?¡± He said mostly to Mardonius. ¡°Well iron is certainly cheaper in Balna than anywhere else,¡± another voice piped up.Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings. ¡°Thank you, that is useful.¡± He teleported to the iron mines in Balna, requiring a few tries before he got the iron he was looking for. He decided to investigate the Raja states. A collection of extremely populous states far to the east. Mercurius had exchanged his Moru coins for iron, and now he received Raja state silver coins. 180 of them. He stopped for lunch in the town of Marston, buying venison and soup for himself. The locals eyeing him warily. Whispers could be heard everywhere. ¡°He has a lot of coins, and he appears from nowhere,¡± The subject of religion seemingly forgotten as Mercurius was a popular figure to gawk at. People did wonder where the money came from. He had spent 10 Raja silver on his dinner, tipping generously to surprised servers. A blonde woman with a big tits and a large rear looked at the new merchant with a smirk. Next time I need to go to the money changer and change these coins. It looks too strange if I walk around with foreign currencies. Nonetheless he waited for his Trade Points to accumulate, bought wood and sold it in the Raja states, went to the city of Busur and gave away his Raja coins for Balna coins, the money changers were surprised, but gave him Balna coins for his trouble. 360 Balna silver coins were converted into 18 gold coins. 20 to 1 is not too bad. He bought 1 gold coin worth of iron, before teleporting it to Mardonius. It had not even been a day, so the old man was surprised. Exchanging the Balna gold coins for Byz gold coins Mercurius gave it to Mardonius. ¡°Use this to fund your operations,¡± he whispered. ¡°I know I was the one who gave you the statue, but the situation is getting unstable here. Many have converted to the Church of Light, and Uruq may even annex the city,¡± Mardonius said in a hushed voice, ¡°you might want to hide your statues. But anyway here¡¯s another.¡± The other blacksmith smacking metal in the foundry showed himself in that moment. ¡°Salutius.¡± He introduced himself, ¡°what exactly are you doing?¡± ¡°Oh, just a ho-¡±Mercurius stopped himself, ¡°have a coin, and maybe another.¡± He gave two gold coins to Mardonius and two to Salutius. ¡°What is this?¡± The blacksmith said. ¡°The God of Trade is generous and wise,¡± Mercurius said most brazenly, ¡°you merely need to accept him.¡± ¡°Is that what that is?¡± Salutius said pointing to the statue. ¡°It is,¡± Mardonius said quietly. The three of them huddled close, not saying their thoughts too obviously to not invite too much attention. ¡°You understand if you wish to join, you must not advertise too loudly, not yet anyway,¡± Mercurius said, scanning around behind him. Salutius was a stocky short man with short black hair and brown eyes, his thin lips curved into a smile, and he pressed Mercurius¡¯s skinny hand and shook it. ¡°Oh don¡¯t worry about it kid, you¡¯ve earned my loyalty. I¡¯ve not even seen gold coins, let alone two of them,¡± he said with a hearty laugh. I now only have 13 of them left. Mercurius thought, what should I buy? Using his Byz gold coins he spent his afternoon buying from the Northern Kingdoms. Buying enormous amounts of timber that he then teleported to the Raja states and sold it for four times the value. He now had 52 Raja gold coins which he exchanged in Balna to the astonishment of the local money changers of the city of Basur. Locals passed him by, the Church of Light priests occupying old Church of Truth holy sites, merchants peddling their wares. Day was turning to night with the onset of evening. Mercurius wondered where he would sleep. Again he returned to his blacksmith friends. ¡°You should try Lori next,¡± Mardonius said, ¡°it¡¯s a church of Truth country, so they won¡¯t find it too strange that you¡¯re there.¡± ¡°Do they have coin though?¡± Mercurius asked. ¡°I guess not.¡± A merchant always becomes greedy I guess. ¡°Your rumours about the impending doom of Byz are not unfounded,¡± Salutius began, ¡°I heard rumours that Uruq might simply annex the city.¡± ¡°Seriously?¡± Mercurius said, might as well keep the Raja gold coins. Otherwise I will hold something utterly worthless. ¡°Make me more statues, and I will buy some land soon.¡± ¡°Seriously?¡± Mardonius said. ¡°Teleportation has its uses, I assure you of that,¡± Mercurius said. ¡°We need to find a new place,¡± Mardonius said. ¡°For sure,¡± Salutius said, ¡°the city is no longer safe.¡± ¡°Tomorrow,¡± Mercurius said, ¡°I don¡¯t think I have enough money for purchasing land, usually people fight for it.¡± And so ended the day. 3. Accumulation 3. Accumulation Mercurius slept in his apartment, tossing and turning, he did not sleep well. Nonetheless he did not get robbed, nor did any of his belongings go missing. He decided to go to the money changers of the Northern Kingdoms, a hodgepodge of Church of Order states whose timber yards were boundless. He had accumulated a lot of Trade Points and quickly went backwards and forwards. He left 50 gold coins in Mardonius pocket, as he had 300 Raja gold coins. He met in the blacksmith again, depositing some coins, as three statuettes had been made for him. Mercurius tapped them, six Trade Points a second now flowed into him, he thought about the God Power. ¡°I need to make some enquiries,¡± Mercurius said. ¡°Sure, see you later.¡± The smacking of metal was heard in the background. Their hands were filthy with the residue of burnt metal. Mercurius disappeared around a corner before appearing in Balna at Marston. He then teleported to Busur to change his coins and then came back to Marston. ¡°How can I help you intrepid trader?¡± A local merchant asked. ¡°Where do I get permission to buy land?¡± Mercurius asked. ¡°Land?¡± The trader gasped. A man wearing fur coats, and clearly in the business of selling game and furs, he had never heard of such an ambition before. ¡°Is there something strange in wanting to buy land?¡± Mercurius said. ¡°Balna is an aristocratic country, you get land awarded by the king, buying land is deliberately made expensive so that commoners and merchants don¡¯t do it. You can buy a house, but the land is still owned by the lord,¡± the merchant said, ¡°such is the way around here.¡± Mercurius stared at the merchant with serious intent. ¡°Goodness you are serious,¡± a passerby interjected. Mercurius went to the local administrative office, and what was essentially, a wooden building with a clerk. ¡°Lord Kastor can¡¯t see your requests at the moment, he is at Bethyr talking with some other lords.¡± ¡°I would like to buy some land,¡± Mercurius began. ¡°You mean a house?¡± The short clerk said looking up at him, ¡°a house costs 10 gold coins.¡± ¡°I want land, and permission to build on it,¡± Mercurius said, to the astonishment of the clerk. ¡°Lord Kastor owns the land here, to own land, means to make you a lord. Since you have no aristocratic pedigree and were not gifted land by King Balar, it will cost 2000 gold coins,¡± the clerk said.The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. He adjusted his spectacles and looked up at Mercurius who nodded. ¡°2000?¡± Mercurius repeated, ¡°is that just for rights to buy, how much land does the 2000 get me.¡± ¡°A few hectares I believe,¡± the clerk said. He paused and stared at Mercurius, ¡°you can¡¯t be serious?¡± ¡°I will see you in some days, but what rank does that give me?¡± Mercurius asked. ¡°Well, you are effectively buying yourself nobility, so I guess you become a baron. Lord Kastor is a mere count. But anyway, surely you don¡¯t¡­¡± ¡°Thank you for the information,¡± Mercurius nodded, leaving the clerk to gawk at him. Mercurius was determined to own some land, for it was not just houses he wanted to buy. ¡°Build me a temple, and you will get 100 Trade Points a second, 100 God Power a second.¡± What do you mean? Mercurius said in his own mind. ¡°Conversing with me is expensive, but I just wanted to inform you of the fact, your progress is good. Keep going.¡± Mercurius bought Balna iron and sold it in the Zhong Empire, a fearsome enormous empire to the east that hungered for resources, again Mercurius got phenomenal returns. Turning 50 Balnan gold coins into 400 Zhong gold coins in approximately 4 hours. He had 700 gold coins, spending a gold coin on an even more extravagant lunch and tip. His coins lounged with his blacksmith buddies, while he sat and feasted. ¡°Apple juice?¡± One of the waitresses laughed, ¡°do you not like ale or mead?¡± ¡°Can¡¯t stand the stuff!¡± Mercurius said. The inn keeper laughed, and the woman carrying ale to other tables also smirked. Mercurius¡¯s reputation began to precede him. People openly looked at him with extreme curiosity and wonder. How can he have so much money? Who was he? Perhaps he¡¯s secretly a lord¡¯s son? People were extremely polite to him, the rumours of him buying land had not circulated yet, so people entertained all kinds of delusions as to his origins. For one thing he had not a shred of aristocratic pedigree. He ate well, and drank well, a fat tip given to the servers. ¡°Stay with us,¡± one of the servers said, ¡°we¡¯ll make it worth your while.¡± I am not taken I guess. Mercurius thought. Why not? A ginger woman with an athletic body, muscular abs, strong legs, arms and a worked out arse; and a blonde innkeeper with big tits and a big round rear, both looked at him like he was the tastiest thing, eyes filled with desire and hunger. I guess I can relax. I should deposit my cash with Mardonius and Salutius, I hope they¡¯re not wasting it. He went outside and teleported to his friends, giving heavy bags of coin as they looked at him wide eyed. ¡°I don¡¯t mind if you take some, the God of Trade is generous after all,¡± Mercurius said to his confidants. ¡°What are you up to then?¡± Mardonius asked. ¡°Going to relax with some women,¡± Mercurius said simply. The old man laughed a little, the middle aged man laughed a lot more, both tapping Mercurius¡¯s shoulder. ¡°Enjoy the evening!¡± They both said. ¡°2000 gold coins for land and a minor noble title,¡± Mercurius informed them. ¡°I imagine it¡¯s the same everywhere, it¡¯s to avoid merchants gaining titles,¡± Salutius said, ¡°that way the King gives the majority of the titles, that¡¯s so the lords are loyal to the king, no man, no ordinary man could purchase land, it¡¯s basically impossible,¡± Salutius explained. Mercurius addressed them both, getting the attention of the old and middle aged man with his eyes. ¡°I promise lots of riches for you, I first need land to cement our place. To build a temple, to have a base.¡± ¡°A temple,¡± both Salutius and Mardonius said in stage whispers. Shushing themselves and each other mere moments later. ¡°A country¡­¡± Mercurius whispered, to even more awed expressions from the two men, ¡°but I leave the large dreams for later.¡± ¡°Go enjoy yourself, then think of these schemes and dreams,¡± Mardonius said. I still only have 700 gold coins, and those two very well might have been tempted to steal some of the coins, or ¡®appropriate¡¯ it for their own ends, I will not begrudge them, but nonetheless, it¡¯s not a given that I have so much, and the cost of land is still far off. He thought. He took five gold coins, and thought about the evening he was about to have. 4. A Night To Remember 4. A Night to Remember He teleported back to the inn, waiting for the inn to stop serving customers food. People ambled off to their lodgings or back to their homes, but Mercurius flicked a gold coin to each woman, and they grabbed him and led him to a room. They both pressed his wrists, the blonde pressing his front with her tits, the ginger pressing his back with hers. ¡°Young merchant, you must be tired from your travels.¡± ¡°Young lord,¡± the blonde woman said deferentially, her eyes darting up and down. The blonde was blatantly an older woman, in her 30s or 40s, her hair up to her shoulders, the ginger, her hair done short, she was in her 20s and was salivating on his shoulder. The innkeeper¡¯s room was shut, and Mercurius¡¯s robes were taken off. ¡°Oh you shaved yours?¡± The blonde said, ¡°my niece only trims hers.¡± They took off their aprons, their trousers and long sleeve shirts before shoving him on the bed. ¡°Come on, let¡¯s have a wash together.¡± They got hot water and put it in a circular wooden tub, sandwiched between two women, he felt the breasts press into him from both sides. Washing his foreskin before they played with him. He touched both pairs of tits, and he was given the soft rears and vulvas to touch and play around with. The blonde innkeeper jostled his balls and slid the head of his dick on her vulva wetting herself. ¡°I am Lara by the way,¡± the innkeeper said, ¡°I hope you are feeling welcome at our inn.¡± She slotted herself on his penis as the merchant touched her back. ¡°I am Vulcana,¡± the red haired woman said. ¡°Mercurius,¡± he said, feeling absolutely incredible, his voice showing it. Vulcana kissed him, and then made him lick her pussy. It was lightly trimmed but there was still hair in a tuft, while the innkeeper had trimmed but more grown out pussy hair. Mercurius sank back in the bath tub, eventually after so much licking he was fed an aphrodisiac drug through a kiss. The innkeeper smacked with a reverse cowgirl until Mercurius ejaculated inside of her and she bounced a little longer until she orgasmed. Mercurius was then aggressively sucked and licked with two mouths. The ginger got the balls as the innkeeper put the entire penis in her mouth, making loud sucking sounds. The God of Trade is awesome. ¡°I am not responsible for this. This is something the God of Love is responsible for.¡± The God of Trade said in his mind. He exists? You really don¡¯t want to be a priest for them, besides you can only be a priest of one deity at a time. Although I am not jealous like those three. If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. Mercurius stopped paying attention to the words of the deity, instead focusing on the tongues and mouths that sucked on him. Two pairs of blue eyes looked at him with hunger. Lara¡¯s mouth had cum on it, and she showed him the product of her labour, Vulcana nibbling at where the cum came out, demanding more come out. Vulcana sat on him facing her. ¡°Let¡¯s get out,¡± the innkeeper said. Cum dripped out of her, the soap washed quickly off him before he too was dried. Lara lay on her bed, but it was Vulcana who rode him in a cowgirl. She squeezed him tighter than he had ever been squeezed, his eyes opening and then closing as he felt the suction. The muscly abdomen translated into a tight grip for her vagina, squeezing him until he deposited another load in him, and she quickly finished on top of him. Now both women lay butts out, the cum rolling onto their labia, making Mercurius going more crazy. They lay on the bed, his penis inserting itself as his hips smacked from behind. Cum felt the ginger¡¯s butt like it was soft cake, endlessly gripping it with his fingers, Lara¡¯s vulva was likewise touched. Grabbing her short hair as he felt himself inside of her, he ejaculated once again. Vulcana sucked his penis, mopping up the residue cum and putting her spit all over it. Then he licked and sucked the balls, before guiding Mercurius into her aunt. They went into a missionary position, the aunt engaging in the most lascivious kiss. He felt the worked out tits of Vulcana on his back, as he tried to move. Hot breath hit him from both sides as he tried to work his way to make her cum. She did, the amount of times he had, making him lose his sense of reality. ¡°Water,¡± he begged, to much mirth from both women, who likewise drank. He was given some to drink, before Lara gave a tit job. It didn¡¯t last long before it evolved into her bouncing on his lap. The man was given something that made his libido go crazy, he was harder than a rock, and the moaning from both women didn¡¯t make him get any quieter. He finished inside of Lara, and Vulcana took over. Cum dropped out of Lara and she took his mouth in a kiss. The two worked well as a team, the evangel of the God of Trade had traded a good night¡¯s sleep for sex. A dangerous trade. Vulcana bounced until she orgasmed, both of their pussies wet all over. Again they sucked his penis, Vulcana shaking it around in her mouth before it spurted some more of its contents. Lara in that moment clapped her butt in a reverse cowgirl. ¡°Let me get the last taste of this,¡± she said, smacking her butt as she orgasmed rather quickly. Again she did it, and Mercurius pressed her round arse before eventually finishing once again inside of her. They quickly went into the bath, doused themselves in soapy water, dried themselves and went to sleep, sandwiched between tits and pussies; pussies filled with his seed. ¡°I am a widow, so I wouldn¡¯t mind some kids,¡± Lara said, ¡°you worked hard, sleep.¡± ¡°I am on a safe day unfortunately,¡± Vulcana said, ¡°I wanted the lord¡¯s kids.¡± Mercurius pretended not to hear, while the women clasped him from either side. Sinking into the soft bedsheets, utterly bereft of stress of worry. He woke up in the morning to the feeling of someone nibbling on his balls and bobbing up and down on his penis. Lara happily swallowed his morning load, showing him the full extent of her work. He lay back, and Vulcana clasped him in a hungry kiss. The vagina was tight, determined to squeeze his seed out of him. He held onto dear life as she smacked herself on top of him. He was exhaling at how good it felt and then he finished, she continued for a little bit, accepting the cum that came out of him. She slowly dismounted and the cum rolled out of her. The cotton bedsheets covered in his cum, he had a sudden realisation at how coming to this inn in Marston would be different from now on. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it dear, we won¡¯t make it too obvious, and we¡¯re always willing to help,¡± Lara said sweetly. ¡°Lay down,¡± Vulcana said. Lara put his dick between her tits and started sucking, Vulcana licked it from the outside. Enticing him to finish once more, and he did rather spectacularly, the two women licking the residues and swallowing it before they both slowly got dressed. He likewise got ready, ready for another day of trading. 5. A Foothold 5. A Foothold Mercurius left his morning residence, confident and relaxed. The thought of placing his cum inside two women, tantalising to him as it was to them. He nonetheless focused on the logistics of his operations. I have slightly less than 700 gold coins, enough to do a lot of things. Those old men spent some of it, I know that much. He teleported to his God of Trade sympathisers, taking a significant amount of coin. ¡°I need to do some trading,¡± he told them. ¡°We need to get out of the city, some are saying there might be a siege soon,¡± Mardonius kindly informed Mercurius. ¡°Really? How do you know?¡± ¡°I¡¯m not 100% sure, but people are whispering about it,¡± Mardonius said. ¡°Oh, here by the way,¡± Salutius said, showing a few iron and bronze statuettes. Salutius grinned at the creations. ¡°Thank you, this will make my life easier,¡± Mercurius said. He now had a total of 12 statues, producing 12 Trade Points a second, this made teleportation much simpler. The God Power ¡°It¡¯s¡­¡± never mind, it¡¯s best I don¡¯t say. Mercurius thought. It¡¯s not quite enough. ¡°It¡¯s what?¡± Salutius asked. ¡°Nothing. Thank you my friend, I appreciate it.¡± ¡°Anytime,¡± Salutius nodded, ¡°so where are you going to trade now?¡± ¡°Zong and the Raja states are my best clients,¡± Mercurius said, ¡°they have deep pockets and endless desire for goods.¡± Mercurius disappeared in the heart of the blacksmith. ¡°It¡¯s still freaky he can do that,¡± Salutius said. ¡°It¡¯s part of the power,¡± Mardonius said, ¡°but yeah I agree.¡± Mercurius spent the morning circulating between the Balna mines, Zhong state¡¯s markets and the money changers of both, and then of course the smithy where he deposited his coin. At some point he ran out of trade points, having accumulated some 500 Zhong gold coins. He bought a coffee in Zhong. The language of Zhong was difficult, but thankfully he merely concerned himself with numbers, coins and commerce. Drinking a coffee, a man approached him, wondering about Mercurius¡¯s story. ¡°Who are you?¡± ¡°Just a trader,¡± ¡°I recognise the accent, you are from Byz aren¡¯t you? Me too!¡± ¡°Right,¡± Mercurius said, ¡°what are you doing here?¡± The abrupt nature of the question made the man smile in mirth at the brazenness, the man was friendly to Mercurius. ¡°I am a Church of Order missionary, Zhong has enormous amount of people, I am evangelising to them.¡± ¡°Church of Order? Do they exist in Byz?¡± ¡°They have a small quarter in the city,¡± the man said. ¡°Really?¡±Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. ¡°10% of the city, Church of Light has 20% the rest are Church of Truth,¡± the missionary explained. ¡°Goodness, the more you know.¡± ¡°You know it¡¯s the year 570 and yet Byz likes to pretend that they¡¯re still an imperial power. The Church of Light is growing too powerful, Asur, Peria and the Northern Kingdoms want me to evangelise to the Zhong, hopefully keep the Church of Light countries busy. A counter balance,¡± the missionary explained. Although what the missionary was saying was interesting, he was talking too much, both in a literal sense, but also arousing the suspicion of local Zhong officials. Spies looked at the missionary with great suspicion and distrust. ¡°I am but a mere trader,¡± Mercurius said, ¡°but thank you for the run down on global events.¡± ¡°I hear Moru might try invade Peria. It all looks rather bleak. The Raja states look like they¡¯re turning toward the Church of Light, very few pagans left there.¡± ¡°Right¡­¡± Mercurius said, again cautious of saying too much. He sipped his coffee, the black haired, thin eyed Zhong people were bustling everywhere, people eating street food, and shouting for wares. The missionary nodded a goodbye. ¡°Thank you, it is nice to see some of my own nationality.¡± ¡°Likewise,¡± Mercurius said, although I do not share your politics. Nonetheless Church of Order Byz man. Fascinating. He disappeared down a street before heading to the Northern Kingdom¡¯s timber yards, he bought a lot of timber and disappeared to one of the Raja states. Prothu was a pagan Raja state, he sold them wood, which were soon fletched into arrows, much of it going to shipbuilding. One of their cities that was under siege greatly appreciated the wood that could be made into arrows. Mercurius sold his wood to other Raja states, collecting gold coins throughout the early afternoon.500 Raja gold coins. He sat in the smithy with his friends, discussing what should be his next movements. ¡°I have made 1000 gold coins, I still need to exchange them for Balna coins.¡± ¡°Does the King even have that amount of coins?¡± Salutius asked with full curiosity. ¡°Probably, he collects taxes right?¡± Mercurius mused. ¡°I made 8 more statues for you,¡± we have hidden them in the back, no need to invite unnecessary attention,¡± Salutius said. ¡°Sure, any news on politics?¡± ¡°Emperor Basil is going to give more coins, the crisis is averted, but maybe only for a year.¡± ¡°I hear Asur might wage war on Balna,¡± Mardonius said. How does he get this information? I do wonder about that, what a wily old man. ¡°There¡¯s a bar in town where men talk a bit too much,¡± Salutius said, I hear Poltu is going to invade Locus, you know the little Church of Order island nation.¡± ¡°Goodness me, war is abound.¡± ¡°That is how most make their fortunes¡­¡± Mardonius mused wistfully. ¡°May the God Of Trade protect us,¡± Mercurius said. He tapped the statues and continued his trading. He went to various Balna money changers, 20 Trade Points a second was a great boon and allowed him to trade more frequently. I have good allies. Wood or iron, what else could I possibly trade? He bought abundant Lori fish and sold it in the markets of the Prothu city under siege, it made him a few coins, but he soon reverted to selling wood to the Raja states, and increasingly Zhong, who in fact in some cities offered him better prices. Construction was endless in Zhong, their Emperor wanting to create more forts to prevent nomadic polities from invading and raiding. There again Mercurius found very willing clients. Nomadic people offered him gold aplenty for wood and iron which he dutifully provided. The nomadic peoples¡¯ became his best clients, but he noticed he had already 600 gold coins, putting him well within the 2000 gold requirement. 690, 1000 and now a further 600. He exchanged them for Balnan currency and went to the office to propose the same offer he had said before. ¡°Don¡¯t joke with me, I am too old to fall for pranks,¡± was the clerks honest response. ¡°Where should I put the coins?¡± Mercurius honestly brokered. The man raised his glasses off his nose, looking at Mercurius with astonishment and incredulity. ¡°Are you¡­¡± for real. It was obvious what he wanted to say, and Mercurius could read the thoughts off his head. All the coins were collected into large bags put onto wheelbarrows in the smithy. ¡°You haven¡¯t stolen too much I hope?¡± Mercurius said, eyes totally filled with prepared rage. ¡°I didn¡¯t take anything,¡± Salutius said, ¡°we know how important it is.¡± ¡°A bit,¡± Mardonius admitted, ¡°but only to make the statues.¡± Mercurius went from annoyed to nodding his head in understanding. He could not fault the logic, and soon he came to the clerk with the required coin. Putting the coins near the clerk¡¯s desk. ¡°I want it in writing,¡± Mercurius demanded. ¡°Of, of, of course,¡± the clerk stuttered, ¡°but just know it is up to a king¡¯s magistrate to decide where your land will be.¡± ¡°What?¡± Mercurius said, ¡°that¡¯s outrageous.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t make the rules kid, I just tell you them.¡± Mercurius grasped his nasal bridge and sighed. ¡°Fine,¡± Mercurius finally said, ¡°so how long will this take?¡± ¡°A day or two,¡± ¡°A day or two?¡± Mercurius whispered breathlessly. ¡°Then you will be a Baron of Balna. Tcht, be grateful, I don¡¯t know how you did it, but buying your own title, that¡¯s the first I¡¯ve heard of it. The King made it basically impossible, even if you were some merchant lord or something, they prefer bigger countries. Zhong, maybe one of the Raja states. Anyway, good day fine sir.¡± S ¡°Good day.¡± Mercurius rested with his remaining 290 gold coins at the smithy, he ate a meal in a local Byz tavern with his friends, waiting for bureaucracy to give him his land he had bought and paid for. 6. Baron of Nowhere 6. Baron of Nowhere It had taken approximately two days and the magistrates of Balna offered lucrative wasteland as a present to the merchant. Mercurius had spent one whole day trading with Hunur nomads, selling them wood and iron in exchange for their various kinds of gold. They had their own coins, but often they had Uruq gold; whether it be mercenary work or raiding, the Hunur nomads were awash with Uruq gold coins. Mercurius had gathered that the Duke of northern stretches of Balna had considered independence, enticed with offers from various Northern Kingdom polities he had switched to the Church of Order and rebelled against the King of Balna Balar had to Marshall his troops and other nobles to try and fight this threat. Mercurius was given a small piece of worthless territory next to the Hunur nomads. ¡°So this is the land I¡¯m getting?¡± ¡°Correct, be glad you¡¯re getting anything. Like I said, I think you are the only merchant lord in our country, I doubt other countries have merchant lords. In fact I said Zhong and Raja, it turns out both states have even higher sums of money if you wish to become nobility. See how crazy it is?¡± The clerk kept blabbering about how lucky Mercurius was, but Mercurius¡¯s temper had not subsided. The land apart from being worthless bit of ice, cold and desolate, is also located right next to presumably hostile nomads who will very likely raid my territory even if I do develop it. Well at least the mountains make it difficult for Uruq to attack me, but even so, what a place? Mercurius had to attempt politeness at being given terrible land, but he struggled with it, stomping off with his note, the other copy kept by the clerk in the Busur magistrate¡¯s office. King Balar is an asshole, and I will enact my vengeance on him one day. His two friends joined him in his frontier piece of property. He chose a green flag with a golden cart, perhaps to signify his mercantile ways; his sigil and flag recorded in the Balnan official documents as he established a small outpost in the middle of nowhere. ¡°Well, we built a shed, I guess,¡± Salutius said, ¡°I suppose when we build a temple no one will be any wiser.¡± ¡°They do expect a certain amount of taxes paid each year,¡± Mardonius said, ¡°temple or no temple.¡± ¡°Really?¡± Mercurius said, his blood pressure rising with each passing moment. ¡°30% I believe.¡± Mercurius outright turned around in disgust. These pricks, I swear. They¡¯d charge me a fee for bleeding on them. Mercurius shook his head violently, but Mardonius calmed him down with the words: ¡°We can always lie about how much money we¡¯re earning, besides it¡¯s hardly like they can inspect.¡± ¡°We are too close to Uruq, and of course these nomads, and even mountain tribes of questionable friendliness.¡± ¡°These lands are ours to develop as we please,¡± Salutius said, ¡°you should be happy about it, we won¡¯t have too many watchful eyes. We can prepare.¡± ¡°We certainly can. I hear the eastern realms have tea and spices, I¡¯m sure I can sell them in Peria and Asur for quite a lot, even some of the Church of Light territories will appreciate it,¡± Mercurius said. ¡°Wood and iron getting tiresome for you?¡± Salutius said. ¡°Well I have to carry them, it requires a lot of teleportations,¡± Mercurius said, ¡°granted the money is not bad.¡±This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. ¡°Give us some money for construction,¡± Mardonius said, ¡°I¡¯m sure you want a proper house to sleep in, ¡°our smith is ready, but we will need beds, quilts, a well and what not. You can import water and wine right?¡± ¡°I suppose,¡± Mercurius said. Although that is expensive of course. He sold spices,; peppercorn and cloves and aniseed in Peria and Asur, buying crates of wine and water, the selling of spices earned him quite generous amounts of gold coins, some 400 gold coins, covering Asur, Peria and the Northern Kingdoms. Exporting wood and iron to Zhong and the Raja states whose appetite for said products did not lessen while selling spices of various varieties to Church of Order and Church of Light polities. By the evening he rested in his territory, completely spent. ¡°We made ten more statues, in fact we are commissioning a life sized one.¡± ¡°That generates 10 Trade Points per second.¡± Only Mercurius heard the voice of the God of Trade who informed him of this marvellous fact. 20 or some builders had come, enticed by coin. Mercurius had made 1000 gold coins, having been lazy for two days had paid off, as he could teleport rather flagrantly. He was also annoyed to have found out that talking to the God of Trade cost 1000 Trade Points. Burning my Trade Points for such nonsense is annoying though. ¡°Be quiet.¡± It said in his head. 50 gold coins immediately, with promise of more upon completion, some started building structures, a house for each of the three. Wine was distributed which cost some extra 10 silvers, as well as food, which totalled a few gold coins. The statue makers made the life sized statue out of granite. Mercurius tapped the small ones, enjoying 30 Trade Points a second. ¡°We keep the information of our religion a secret to them until later,¡± Mardonius whispered to his confidants, ¡°it is best that way, they think we are Church of Truth.¡± ¡°Gather money Mercurius, and I¡¯m sure we can use this little piece of forgotten land to our advantage,¡± Salutius said, ¡°they will be confused as to where the money comes from, but they will accept it with time.¡± ¡°For sure.¡± Mercurius took a few gold coins and enjoyed the loins of two tavern women. Perhaps I should introduce some female company to that lot. There are too many men. They¡¯ll get bored. Meanwhile the night was spent getting slobbered on and ejaculating inside warm and tight bodies. ¡°Baron Mercurius,¡± Lara said, putting her hand on his chest. He was merciless that evening, touching two rears and combing his thumb on the vulva¡¯s glistening with his sperm. Proud of himself as he grabbed both rears ¡°Oh Lord Mercurius, I hear your Barony is on the border with those barbarous Hunur.¡± ¡°It is,¡± Mercurius replied. Sitting on the bed while they cleaned his penis and then slept next to him. His cum rolling out of them. ¡°Baron, I will give birth to your children,¡± Lara hummed, ¡°as will Vulcana, just send us money.¡± ¡°Come here!¡± Mercurius said, provoked by her lasciviousness. Mounting Lara on his lap, she squeezed his progeny out of his balls, huffing and puffing, the two of them licking his penis clean. Well I suppose even this expensive Baron title has its perks. And so he slept. The next day, Mercurius visited his compatriots in his Barony. They had successfully built simple wooden houses and the life sized statue, which he tapped. 40 Trade Points flowed into him a second, which he used most dutifully. Selling spices and tea, iron and wood he made 800 in a mere few hours. Returning to his territory, confused builders looked at the suddenly appearing man with suspicion. ¡°At some point you will have to induct them into the religion,¡± Mercurius said, ¡°they look at me with obvious suspicion, wouldn¡¯t you? They don¡¯t see me shooting lightning bolts, fire or earth, so they don¡¯t realise it¡¯s God Power, but they will work it out soon.¡± Mercurius distributed another 50 gold coins, mainly to shut them up, but also to buy their loyalty. It is not the right time to evangelise to them. When our temple is built. He sold iron and wood to the Chenep and Hunur nomads as well as eastern nomads far away, they lapped up the products with great enthusiasm. Wood was like gold for they could make arrows. The steppes were becoming more barren, and wood was highly valuable. ¡°We have 1700 Gold coins,¡± Mardonius said to Salutius, ¡°do you think it¡¯s possible to commission something a bit more ambitious?¡± Salutius looked at the old man with a hint of fear. ¡°If and when we do, we will have essentially committed sedition, there will be a timer on all our heads,¡± Mercurius said, ¡°but sure, we should do it.¡± ¡°The God of Trade knows best,¡± Mardonius said wistfully, Both prayed to it, filling the Trade Points Mercurius got just that little bit more. Mercurius arrived at the base camp and Mardonius and Salutius were a mixture of excited and terrified. ¡°Let us build the temple, the temple to the God of Trade!¡± Mardonius and Salutius said almost too loud. ¡°Really?¡± Mercurius said, ¡°I thought you¡¯d never ask.¡± ¡°But we¡¯ll need more builders, afterwards we¡¯ll proposition them.¡± ¡°Things are advancing along¡­¡± Salutius salivated, ¡°it won¡¯t be long now.¡± 7. Construction 7. Construction Mercurius spent the day gathering coins, only for Mardonius and Salutius to splurge 200 on 40 workers, and then another 200 gold coins on another 40. 100 workers total, with all the problems that caused. Iron and wood from the Northern Kingdoms and Balna were sold to Raja markets as well as the nomads, who gave them Raja coins as well as Uruq gold coins in abundance. 20 or so workers were tasked with building housing, not only for the trio of God of Trade devotees but also all the workers who now resided in Mercurius¡¯s Barony. Where there was nothing, the God of Trade has made something. Mardonius thought, nearly crying in the process. The sound of the construction was heard everywhere, timber being cut, cement being made, rocks being smacked into place. Mercurius imported expensive marble in massive blocks that the workers put into place. ¡°It has to be marble! I don¡¯t accept anything else other than marble!¡± ¡°Alright, alright,¡± Mercurius muttered under his breath, ¡°deity thinks money grows on trees.¡± ¡°I gave you an ability that can make money flow. Use it!¡± Mercurius imported tonnes of marble, actually making a loss for the day. 1700 gold coins dwindled to 1500 gold coins, nonetheless iron and wood kept the budget relatively stable. He disappeared, sold spices and tea, sold iron and wood and then went to the money changers to pay in Balna gold coins. The money changers were a bit suspicious of this merchant who always gave foreign currency but they nonetheless complied. Mercurius bought marble mainly from Hitara, selling them wood and iron, to make the difference. The Raja states and Zhong¡¯s thirst for wood was insatiable. By the end of the day Mercurius had made their gold reserves sit at 1550. Another 500 gold coins were dispersed to the 100 workers who were also given food, wine, washing water as well as drinking water, and had built themselves outhouses and basic protection from the cold. ¡°This money we can use to buy clothes for us, and maybe for our families,¡± a common refrain from many. ¡°This Baron pays well,¡± a man said, ¡°incredibly well. Then again he is a merchant, so I suppose he has the means.¡± Many wondered where the money came from. Many more were impressed by it. Mercurius slept in the camp this time, waking up to the sounds of women and children. The builders had brought their families along, migrating on wagons with tales of the gold that had accumulated. They were mostly Church of Light people, but they had no idea they were building a temple to a pagan god. The gold mostly shut them up, but there was murmurings among them. ¡°Is that merchant lord building a palace or something?¡± One man piped up.Stolen novel; please report. ¡°Well, if you have all that money, why not?¡± Another worker said, ¡°I¡¯ve never met anyone as generous as him.¡± ¡°By the God of Light, we are blessed!¡± A woman said clasping her hands together. ¡°Hey aren¡¯t idols forbidden in our religion,¡± one curious builder asked, ¡°why have they got statues?¡± ¡°Each worker got 10 gold coins,¡± a man said, ¡°let the lord do what he wants, we are hardly clergyman.¡± There was a smattering of disagreement, some workers being Church of Truth, they pressed the other way, producing a rowdy argument that nonetheless died down soon enough. ¡°Having to pay extra taxes to those curs irritates me,¡± a man grumbled. ¡°Enough of the religious talk!¡± A woman said. Mercurius continued getting imported marble, getting slightly over the required amount, accounting for any errors or mistakes in construction; exporting wood to the Hitaran markets to fiscally compensate. He appeared, disappeared, reappeared to much confusion among the workers. The temple construction took its time, but the workers were highly motivated due to the pay, and the women who had come even helped out as well. Steps were laid out, pulleys pulled up the blocks, and oil lantern fires were made so that workers could continue even when it was dark. It was hardly the biggest religious building out there, but it was coming along. Mercurius spent the night among two women. The inn in Marston was welcoming to him, he bathed with them, and slotted both women on top of him. They giggled as he spewed cum inside of them. All the day¡¯s stress that was bottled up inside of him splurged into their loins. He gave them some coin for their troubles, and they pocketed it, before giving him joint head. Vulcana¡¯s pink tongue was covered in his cum, Lara likewise, this made him even hornier. He smacked both of them in a doggy-style, hammering in his cum, his penis convulsing in another ejaculation. Vulcana squeezed his penis to shoot out more rapidly, and more rapidly it did. After at least a few hours of this, they washed, and then had sex once again, after which Mercurius laid in bed. Ending the process with a blowjob, clasping Lara¡¯s head, feeling the both of them hungrily clasping him. ¡°Well Baron, it is nice to see you again,¡± Vulcana said, clasping her belly, ¡°I think your child is in me, I think I am getting married soon, so we will have to stop this, sorry.¡± Mercurius stared at her in awe for a few good seconds and then nodded. ¡°No problem,¡± he said, ¡°good luck.¡± ¡°Thank you Baron,¡± Lara said graciously and with a big smile. Again he woke to repeat the same process. Buying marble, selling spices and teas to the west, selling wood and iron to the Zhong, Raja states and nomads, and even Hitara. Hitara he found out had a particularly bad drought, so his focus turned to their market in particular, the amount of wood they could get was insufficient, arrows and ships were needed and Mercurius provided the necessary wood in massive quantities. He made up for earlier deficits, bringing his total gold to some 2000. Albeit some 400 gold was given as a donation to the workers. 4 gold each. By mid afternoon after selling copious amounts of wood to the Hitaran markets, 20 Hunaran travellers came to the new construction and helped putting the marble in place. A statue was put in place in the middle of the temple, a small plaza inside with a well and some newly planted trees. The structure had columns and a rooftop, despite this it took a while for the structure to be perfected, the builders beginning to build their own houses in the shadow of such a structure. Salutius and Mardonius gave out the coin and the dole of wine and food. The wives and children looking at the glittering metal with astonishment. It won¡¯t be long now, and they will either convert, or cause a riot or something. I hope they don¡¯t blab to the authorities, otherwise this will get very very complicated. Mercurius spent the night alone, the gold again dwindled down to some 1500 gold pieces, he didn¡¯t bother standardising the currencies, realising that gold was gold. Who knows whether I¡¯ll even be a Balnan lord anyway. I just needed a base somewhere. Afterwards. Well we¡¯ll see what happens afterwards. 8. The Temple 8. The Temple It took roughly five days, five agonising days, but the structure was complete, fully furnished with a large statue in the middle, and a lovely plaza and steps. The workers turned to their own lodgings, but Mercurius stood on the steps and looked at the amazing structure. He tapped the temple and another 100 Trade Points flowed into him, he tapped the large statue and 20 more came to him. 160 Trade Points flowed into the devotee to the God of Trade. Mardonius and Salutius surreptitiously took in the small statuettes into the complex. Mercurius realised he had to address the workers, soon to be citizens of his Barony. Tired, but nonetheless well remunerated. They looked up at him. ¡°Thank you for your fast work,¡± Mercurius said to them all, ¡°this building is not a palace for me, the payments we could give you, it is thanks to the God of Trade! All of this was possible because of him.¡± A lot of gasps and shocked faces stared at Mercurius, wondering what he would say. ¡°That is blasphemy! Idolators¡­¡± ¡°The gold you have is thanks to the God of Trade!¡± Salutius shouted to the crowd, interjecting at just the right moment. There was a lot of whispering and murmuring. Mercurius teleported amongst the crowd and then back to the temple mount. ¡°Do you understand!¡± Mercurius said, ¡°your riches, and I suppose my riches, are due to the God of Trade. Do you wish to refuse us?¡± Many murmurs were heard as people were confused, the Church of Truth contingents were wide eyed in astonishment, the church of Light Balnans¡¯ were surprised by the state of events, they did not expect what they heard. Some were almost relieved to hear the news, but most were astonished that such words were even spoken. ¡°Is the God of Trade the one who brings such riches?¡± A nomad Hunur man asked, ¡°if so, I shall become a worshipper of such a god.¡± ¡°Me too,¡± a Balnan said finally. Once a few deemed it acceptable, a lot more converted rather openly. 50 men and their wives, their children looking confused, the other 50 looked in confusion. ¡°Non believers are free to stay here, although believers will be paid a bonus for worshipping at the temple,¡± Mercurius said, ¡°2 gold per person per week this includes children.¡± ¡°Are you sure you can afford that?¡± Mardonius whispered into his ear. ¡°I¡¯ll make it work,¡± Mercurius replied. Another wave of people began converting. ¡°If the Church of Light will tax people for not being their faith, then we shall pay people to be ours. The God of Trade is generous like that.¡± 20 of the workers and their families refused the faith, outright choosing to walk away, while the remaining 80 workers and their families accepted the full glory of the God of Trade. Some were probably opportunists, happy to accept gold for worship, but even then the extra God Power was felt.You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story. ¡°I feel an extra 140 Trade Points,¡± Mercurius said to Mardonius, ¡°our operations can expand.¡± ¡°Is 2 gold per week even feasible Mercurius? Most people barely get a few silvers for a months pay, a lot of people use iron coins, for basic goods,¡± Salutius whispered to Mercurius. ¡°We are cementing their loyalty, besides every week is doable, if we did it daily then yes you are correct, that would not be doable after a while, and especially once the population expands.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t forget a lot of people would kill for a gold coin,¡± Mardonius whispered in a lecture. ¡°I know, that¡¯s why I¡¯m giving them that amount, although I don¡¯t like killing.¡± Mardonius and Salutius looked at the trader with a concerned stare. ¡°You are championing a new religion, it will come whether you like it or not. No religion lives without state power. Remember that,¡± Mardonius prophetically warned. ¡°Right¡­¡± Mercurius said, trying to soak in the information. Again Mercurius went to exporting various goods, selling iron and wood to the Chenep and Hunur nomadic confederacies, receiving a significant amount of Uruq gold. He could teleport more frequently without stopping, 300 trade points a second allowed him to purchase and sell and purchase and sell at ever faster rates. Gold was now stored in the temple, befitting the status of the trade gold. 500 gold coins were made in an hour. He bought Northern Kingdom wood and sold it to the Zhong and Raja states. It was only afternoon and he had made 1500 extra gold coins. 3500 gold coins were in the temple, the local devotees were astonished at the work, as was Mercurius. He sat with the Hunur converts who served him soup and wine. ¡°Our God is generous, our God is wise! I apologise for not having told you sooner, but the temple needed to be built first.¡± ¡°It is no problem milord,¡± a woman said, ¡°we are merely glad for the prosperity.¡± ¡°Make sure to thank Mardonius as well, without him, probably none of us would be here right now.¡± Mardonius at that time was with a single Hunur woman. A raven haired woman, who giggled and laughed and proceeded to jump into Mardonius¡¯s lap. Salutius and Mercurius laughed, as he was quickly whisked off to her abode. ¡°Don¡¯t catch a heart attack!¡± Salutius said, to much mirth from people nearby including Mercurius. ¡°Are you sure he¡¯ll be ok?¡± Mercurius said quietly. ¡°He¡¯s old but not that old, don¡¯t you worry and focus on yourself, do you have anyone?¡± ¡°Not love anyway,¡± Mercurius said in a depressed voice. ¡°You did that to yourself,¡± Salutius said, ¡°that kind of pleasure is only temporary.¡± He¡¯s right. Mercurius thought. When people prayed the Trade Points were massively increased, but meanwhile Mercurius bought significant amounts of spices and sold them in western markets, this increased the gold reserves to 4200. Everyone was thrilled with the gold that sat in their vaults. Almost everyone. While the new community of the God of Trade worshipped at their new temple, Church of Light workers, zealots really, went and narked on them to local constables of other nobles farther north. ¡°A pagan has a established a temple to the ¡®God of Trade,¡¯ we saw him use infernal sorcery to teleport around!¡± One disgruntled worker said. ¡°Really now,¡± a small time Lord said, ¡°which lord was this?¡± ¡°Baron Mercurius,¡± the workers said to him. The Lord looked sceptically at first, but since it was more than one person telling him, he chose to believe the rumours. Of course he was a marcher lord, whose whole purpose was to protect the frontier, but if such seditious and blasphemous activities were taking place, he could marshal some forces to correct it, and he slowly did. ¡°Gather the retainers, we need to investigate this.¡± The local hill tribes were quite fiercely devout too, either fiercely Church of Truth or fiercely Church of Light, but for now there was a lull and peace. Mercurius gathered another 500 gold coins through trade before resting for the evening, sleeping in a newly constructed structure, with quilts, beds and even a rudimentary glass window. Mercurius drifted off to sleep, having worked exceptionally hard, his Barony now exceptionally wealthy, with an astounding gold vault. 9. New Associates 9. New Associates Mercurius began the next day trading once more, he bought stone for his citizens, splurging 200 gold coins which were soon used to great effect. Loyalty had definitely been bought, the amount of Trade Points were in the millions, such profound quantities of godly power were of course extremely useful to Mercurius who further cemented his mercantile miracle, getting to 5000 gold coins within a mere hour. While trading among the Hunur, there among their steppe, near the Hitaran border, Mercurius was conducting some trade as usual, when two figures caught his attention. There among the hide tents, in the open sun, two figures were running away from Hitaran horsemen, and then Hunur horsemen blocked the fleeing people causing them to stumble. ¡°They are idolators! They must be punished, those filthy dogs!¡± The Hitaran said, getting his sabre ready to strike them down. A man and a woman, both in their 20s held idols in their hands, cradling them and waiting for the release of death. ¡°Excuse me, I will negotiate their release,¡± Mercurius said, ¡°how much?¡± ¡°It is not negotiable, unbelievers do not get pardoned!¡± ¡°Pardoned,¡± Mercurius repeated, ¡°I will pay for their release.¡± ¡°How much?¡± The Hunur cavalrymen said, ¡°1000.¡± No way in hell do they have that much. Mercurius soon returned with 1000 gold coins, astounding both the Hitaran and Hunur soldiers. They looked aghast at the gold. ¡°We still have to kill them!¡± Mercurius took a hand of one and the other and whisked them away to his barony between Balna, Uruq, mountains and the Hunur. A man in his 20s clasping a woman in her 20s. Both grovelled in front of Mercurius in relief. ¡°Thank you! Thank you!¡± The man said with tears filling his eyes, relief spilling in every gulp of breath. The man looked at the temple with astonishment. ¡°Lord Mercurius, how, who are these people?¡± A citizen of the Barony asked. ¡°They were people in trouble who I helped, I wonder myself?¡± He said, looking at the two figures. A woman with light green hair and green eyes, and a man with crystalline blue eyes and blue hair. ¡°I am Mercurius, evangel of the God of Trade? You are?¡± ¡°I am Ur,¡± the man piped up, ¡°I am the devotee to the God of Water¡± ¡°Gaia,¡± the woman said, ¡°devotee to the Goddess of Agriculture.¡± ¡°Goddess of agriculture?¡± Mercurius whispered, ¡°does that mean you can make things grow?¡±Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°Yes it does,¡± both rescued people said, ¡°although it needs water.¡± Mardonius and Salutius came to look at the new arrivals, many were excited. ¡°We must build them statues, and temples!¡± Mercurius said, ¡°the wealth of our community-¡± ¡°We are under attack!¡± A Hunur person said. Roughly 300 Balna soldiers commanded by an enthusiastic lord came, 100 Hunur horsemen likewise came from the East closed in from the distance to enact punishment on the heathens. Native Hunur converts shot arrows at the incoming raiders, the workers all congregating to the temple steps. ¡°There¡¯s too many of them, I know a quiet place, it¡¯s a long long way away from here, but if you wish for safety it will have to be there!¡± Mercurius said, ¡°we must flee. Damn it. I knew it was too good to be true.¡± Balna soldiers fell, but he whisked away statue after statue, and soon his two confidants, and Mardonius¡¯s girlfriend, then it was the two new people with their God Powers. Women and children were whisked, and all the people. Mercurius came back to get his gold, snatching 200 gold, but leaving the rest. The settlement had been totally abandoned, his loyal Hunur were put out of harm¡¯s way before Mercurius took one last look at what was his Barony. ¡°Fuck¡­¡± he seethed, ¡°fuck. Fuck. Fuck!¡± He shouted. He had saved everyone, and remarkably quickly, but all his work was now being looted. Snatching some iron, wine and food he returned. He returned once more looking upon the Balnan lords looting his temple, Hunur and Balnan¡¯s beginning to fight each other over the vast treasure. I will get my revenge. I assure you, I will Balna will be mine one day. They will rue the day they messed with the evangel of the God of Trade. The weather was much warmed where Mercurius had taken his lot. He was in Moru, or at least close to it. Moru was likewise a Church of Light nation, but he was situated in the far south of it, barely on the periphery, therefore perhaps they could grow their strength there while they waited. Moru was in the far west, far south of the known world, over there he could grow his strength, and rebuild what was destroyed. ¡°The temple stands for now¡­¡± he muttered, ¡°but we will have to build another one.¡± Mercurius said wistfully. Shacks were made in the sand, now officially stranded far beyond their homes. ¡°The weather is nice here, but we will need water more desperately.¡± ¡°I will make trades, and recover our wealth.¡± Mercurius once again ventured out. Buying Northern Kingdom wood, which was apparently thinning out and selling it in Moru and Hitara for a modest sum. He bought Balnan wood and sold it in Zhong. By the end of it all he had made 800 gold. Buying marble and iron put him back at 150gold coins. He sold spices and teas from the east in Balna and Uruq and earned himself some 2000 gold coins. Collapsing on a quilt near the ocean, in their new camp. Workers slowly worked on their new camp. The ocean crashing in the background, the seagulls inspecting the humans down below and occasionally shitting on them. ¡°A metaphor for life¡­¡± Mercurius said. ¡°At least we are alive,¡± Mardonius said, ¡°we are building statues for the God of Water and Agriculture.¡± ¡°Good luck,¡± Mercurius said. He drank same water, and watched as statues to the two other deities came to be constructed. The water deity had a trident and something resembling a net, the agricultural deity held a bushel of wheat in one hand and stick in the other. Both were replicated in large form. Three first layer¡¯s of marble were put down for three temples, and Mercurius sighed once again. Three of them. Water was being placed on the floor and wheat was grown, to much astonishment of the local crowds. Mercurius noted that the devotion to the God of Trade lessened, and the rate at which water and crops grew quickened. The people are praying to those Gods instead. I can¡¯t be jealous, they¡¯re doing an obvious good. Mercurius brought back material for statue making. Gawking at the statues. Three large statues for the God of Water and God of Agriculture were made, allowing them to slowly grow things, while Mercurius collected materials for his new nation. Marble and iron flowed in, and spices from the east flooded the markets of the west. He would collapse that evening, with barely 500 gold coins. Spending colossal fortunes on a slew of materials. The Baron of Nowhere, was now no longer a Baron, now he could become something even greater. He eventually felt the jolt as the temple was being torn down. He would get his revenge. 10. Flurry 10. Flurry Three temples needed to be built. Without a temple Trade Points would gather at 40 a second, plus whoever was worshipping; Mardonius and Salutius were kind enough to build another large statue, making it 50 a second, the Gods¡¯ of Agriculture and Water were honoured with 5 large statues, with construction work going to the three new temples. Mercurius used the native wood, realising the potential for limitless money. He had to wait a bit for it to produce necessary quantities for export, but he nonetheless exported it to the Raja states with great profits. Spending nothing and selling it in their markets, is a great feeling. I can¡¯t wait to do my worst to Balna, I truly can¡¯t. I can¡¯t believe those bastards destroyed my temple. He sold wood that came at no cost into Raja markets, then went and sold eastern spices in Moru markets before returning with some 800 or so gold. He realised he would have to splurge most of his coin on cement, marble and stone. Houses had to be rebuilt again, and he gave a donative to most of the residents. Three temple structures were built in the soft sand. ¡°One day we will have water for all residents, for now we are focusing on export crops!¡± Salutius said selling the idea of the God of Water. We¡¯ll all have water? The residents thought. The town developed quickly, and a part of the reason for this is local tribes from nearby came to aid the construction. ¡°What are you building here newcomer?¡± ¡°A temple to the God of Trade,¡± Mercurius said with ill advised bravado, ¡°and God of Water and Agriculture.¡± The tribesmen looked with shock and then wonder. They watched trees sprout from the water with tremendous unbelievable speed, to be chopped by the locals. They prayed to the God of Water and Agriculture and wood sprouted faster than ever. Mercurius approached Ur out of curiosity. ¡°By any chance does 100 God Power allow you also to do your powers?¡± ¡°For water yes, agriculture is a little bit more expensive at 120. But then again you must appreciate it is a fabulous power,¡± Ur explained. ¡°For sure,¡± Mercurius said with awe and amazement in his voice. Trees sprouted and some 300 tribesmen settled near the town Mercurius created. ¡°Our clansmen have been experiencing drought in our village,¡± one man said, ¡°please let us settle next to you.¡± ¡°Settle in our town, feel free,¡± Mercurius said, open arms. Wheat was made, water was distributed in ever increasing rates. The temples got more manpower with more men heaving rocks and building houses. There must be 500 people here now. Mercurius sold this new free wood to the Raja states and Hitara for much better margins. Even Moru itself was sold the wood, acquiring 1400 gold. Unfortunately all gold profits had to be reinvested in the temples that were being made and the houses for the new residents. Women and children helped, men helped especially, the God of Trade had a large statue dedicated to the patron deity situated inside, a large statue inside, the Goddess of Agriculture likewise had a dedicated statue inside, the God of Water likewise. All the gold spent on marble depleted the reserves to 50 gold. Despite it being near evening the three temples were finished, and with the three evangels tapping their religious monuments, the temples began producing masses of God Power. Forests grown and chopped by the new residents. Wheat fletched, corn given to everyone, water filling the wells. Mercurius fell over, exhausted beyond belief.You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author. ¡°The new converts from here have been very helpful,¡± Salutius mused, a woman catching his attention. ¡°Yeah¡­¡± Mercurius said exhausted and breathing into the sand. ¡°Careful,¡± a woman said, stabbing a scorpion, ¡°that¡¯s a good way to die.¡± Mercurius was carefully housed in his abode. A small hut, with protection from the desert sands. ¡°For now it is humble,¡± A local tribesman said, ¡°but I can see the future, three temples, these three will produce riches beyond our wildest dreams.¡± ¡°In Moru city, we would just be paupers,¡± an old man said, ¡°to think such people existed, praise the God of Agriculture!¡± Mercurius woke up the next day merely selling wood and food that was collected. The Raja states, Zhong and Hitara. Gold piled up, from a mere 200 gold coins, to 2000. Food piled up too. Mercurius had to visit local stone merchants in Moru, returning with granite and even marble for construction of houses. Water filled the wells, wheat was ground down into flour in the mills, and bread was starting to be made. ¡°I thought we were goners, but we have bounced back remarkably quickly,¡± a Hunaran resident said. ¡°That is the power of farming,¡± Salutius explained, ¡°as it turns out, being able to grow your own wood greatly increases your profits.¡± Mardonius looked at the nascent community with tears in his eyes, addressing a large crowd. ¡°We need to build walls, or at least watch towers! We must be prepared for conflict!¡± He continued prattling. Mercurius¡¯s ears were immediately drowned out with a familiar voice: ¡°WELL DONE EVANGEL. YOU EVEN TEAMED UP WITH THE GOD OF FARMING AND WATER. VERY SMART!¡± He shouted in Mercurius¡¯s head. ¡°Fuck me,¡± Mercurius said, ¡°what a god.¡± ¡°I CAN HEAR YOU.¡± ¡°What do we do now?¡± ¡°They destroyed our temple in Balna,¡± the god of trade began saying in hushed overtones, ¡°gather riches, hire mercenaries and take out Moru.¡± Mercurius stopped and stared into the distance. ¡°Then we really will become enemies of all,¡± Mercurius said wistfully. ¡°You already are.¡± This god is burning my Trade Points to prattle in my head. But he¡¯s right. ¡°It¡¯s not prattle, and of course I am.¡± Mercurius sold free wood to the Moru markets, and to the Hitaran markets, coming back to a bounty of wood cut, the Trade Points were overflowing and he could hit to the Rajan markets without hesitation or pause. Water filled the wells, various grown food products reached the various residents. Mercurius looked at all the mills, all the free food being consumed. ¡°I wonder I give 2 gold a week,¡± he mused. ¡°You give them 2 gold a week?¡± Ur asked, amazed, his blue eyes stared at him. ¡°The God of Trade is generous.¡± ¡°The God of Water makes sure they have enough to eat and drink.¡± ¡°For sure,¡± Mercurius smirked, ¡°I wouldn¡¯t have it any other way, the partnership of our three deities, will make the world tremble.¡± ¡°Our gods talked to us too, they know what the God of Trade said to you,¡± Gaia said, ¡°dangerous thoughts Mercurius.¡± ¡°You think?¡± Mercurius said. ¡°You might have been chased out of Balna for your paganism, for your temple, but you had a low profile, if you begin toppling nations, we could have religious wars on our hands.¡± ¡°The Moru army is busy preparing to invade Peria, it might be a better time than ever to strike from their underbelly,¡± Mercurius mused. Mardonius and Salutius surprised the trio of evangels, waltzing into their conversation. ¡°There is another way, not just mercenaries,¡± Salutius said, he unfurled a map of Moru, ¡°Church of Light countries employ a lot of slaves. We can buy them, and free them, we can create armies of people to be mobilised on a short notice.¡± ¡°If food and drink and money is distributed¡­¡± Mercurius suggested, nodding with great enthusiasm, a great grin in his mouth. ¡°We can topple Moru quite quickly,¡± Mardonius and Salutius said together. We can take down a country. They all thought. Mercurius got to work, realising what needed to be done. I¡¯m just getting started. 11. The Soft Underbelly 11. The Soft Underbelly All morning Mercurius sold wood to the Zhong, and Raja states, hopping between time zones jarring to his sense of time, each time he returned to his base in Moru leaving gold coins. He had added 3000 gold coins to a total of 5000. He visited the nearest Moru city of Ethrib, going on a spending spree. Before he would buy slaves, he bought 1000 mercenary soldiers. The local mercenary captain was surprised when 400 gold coins ended up in his pocket. ¡°I need another 500 for supplies,¡± the captain said gruffly. Mercurius gave them the gold, and then said: ¡°Come to our town, we will treat you well, I assure you.¡± They marched their troops down south, and Mercurius wondered whether he should teleport them personally to the town. They know of fire magic. Perhaps I should locate them nearby. Oh fuck it I have to do some more trading. He sold more wood and replenished the gold reserves back to 5000. Wheat was sold in small batches but wood was by far the most profitable; the Raja states and Hitara filled his coffers to get to a stunning 6000 gold coins. He then visited the slave markets and freed as many as he could. Giving small donations of gold to encourage the worship of the God of Trade, Agriculture and Water, the slaves were skeptical, some being given tours of the town and the temples. Free food was distributed, these new freemen being found lodgings. With each worshipper to the God of Agriculture accelerating the production process. Ethrib¡¯s slave markets were empty, women, children, old, even cripples who were supposed to have little monetary value were freed by Mercurius. 1500 gold coins were splurged by Mercurius who outbid everyone and made sure to whisper messages as well. ¡°The God of Trade will free the slaves, and abolish this horrid practice,¡± he whispered. ¡°The fire mages will burn us,¡± the slave whispered back in fear. His eyes looked with wide eyed fear at the seditious words Mercurius was whispering. ¡°The Church of Light will fall in Ethrib,¡± he whispered, ¡°their own greed will be their undoing.¡± Another mercenary captain in the north of the city was hired for 1000 gold coins. Mercurius whisked the captain and some of his officers to his small town. Evangelising the God of Agriculture and Water to them. ¡°Everything will change, you might be a Church of Light, but soon we can have a much better society.¡± ¡°You talk a big game, but even Moru by itself is powerful, you know that right?¡± The mercenary lord warned, ¡°I will secretly worship your god regardless, but this is dangerous game you are playing.¡± ¡°Oh I know, I definitely know,¡± Mercurius whispered, ¡°evangelise your soldiers, and it will be a game, I will win.¡±If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement. The other mercenary captain had reached the town, and of course saw the wonders of the fast growing food and trees. Gaia could grow things at fantastical rates, growing 10 trees at a time, while growing crops, the amount of God Power was getting ridiculous. ¡°The power is insane,¡± Gaia whispered, ¡°I don¡¯t know if I can funnel it by myself anymore.¡± Crops were grown, ground into flour and bread being made. The town having a few freed slaves helping in the extraction of wood. ¡°They¡¯re not slaves anymore remember! The three gods will be their liberation.¡± Wood was made into neat piles before Mercurius grabbed a few and disappeared once again. A city of 50,000. There were perhaps 10,000 slaves, Mercurius went looking for them, even people who were not theoretically selling. He bought nearly 3000 of them, 500 more slaves than were on the market; freeing them, paying them, feeding them. Whisper networks through Ethrib became his weapon. Mercurius bribed the urban poor and peasantry next; finding them, promising them so much gold to cover rent and food. He bought spices and teas from the east and sold it into Moru markets, earning a 1000 gold profit, before reinvesting his profits in bribing farm workers and urban poor. Some in the intelligence community caught onto his tricks, immediately alerting the governor. ¡°Emir Ras, someone is doing something very strange, our spies have reported that the slave markets are empty!¡± The spy said with a shaky voice. ¡°A slave revolt!¡± The governor said in trepidation. ¡°Someone bought all the slaves.¡± The Governor shrugged at the words, calmed down at the suggestion. Commerce was good. ¡°Maybe he just needed a lot of slaves,¡± the governor said, not worried in the slightest. ¡°All of them sir. That is not normal. Crippled, old, young, ugly. There is no discrimination. It is highly irregular.¡± ¡°What do you think is happening?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know yet, a lot of whispering is going on,¡± the spy paused, ¡°it¡¯s all very strange.¡± A man with scars all over his face, dark and tanned, the governor was much more pale in comparison, he didn¡¯t cover his face, the spy keeping his identity hidden even to the governor. ¡°What should we do?¡± The Governor asked. ¡°I was hoping you would know?¡± The spy replied frantically. ¡°Observe and report to me what is going on,¡± the governor said. Farmers were receiving free crops, massive bags of flour. Bakeries were being delivered huge shipments of cheap flour, Mercurius even talked to guards of the city, bribing them and giving them donations in exchange for their loyalty. Again Mercurius returned to the town, so big it was deserving of a name. The residents settled for Hiru, and it became an important staging point for their plan. When Mercurius returned, the number of evangels for water and agriculture had been increased. A woman named Latha, a Hunur by ethnic extraction was made an evangel of the God of Farming, she helped Gaia grow the crops, increasing production; meanwhile Dendarius a Balnan was made an evangel for the God of Water. Mercurius got a familiar voice in his head: ¡°Choose who you wish to accompany you. Normally I make the choice every so thousand worshippers, but you have done so well, you make the choice.¡± ¡°Salutius,¡± Mercurius said. He was given the power. Together they further infiltrated the city of Ethrib, selling wood to the Zhong to gather some 2000 gold coins before bribing even shopkeepers. The mood of the city was decidedly turning against the Church of Light. They targeted the city of Fes next, a city located inland rather than on the coast, it had some 80,000 people, located near a river and oases. Mercurius and Salutius freed 1000 slaves, splurging their gold, before both disappeared to foreign markets to gather more gold. They returned buying 1000 more. Again they disappeared. ¡°We need more money to successfully convince Fes to join us.¡± They sold enough wood until they had 5000 gold coins total. It was night time, and the markets were closed. The town of Hiru grew wealthier by the second, food, luxuries, gold, housing began sprouting all around. Stone lined up and worked on. The God Power of the three deities had increased to something beyond Mercurius¡¯s wildest imagination. Moru did not quite realise what it was dealing with. 12. Spending Spree 12. Spending Spree The King of Moru was king Khalid, he had prepared 20,000 soldiers for an invasion of Peria, his troops were to take the city of Nova and advance up the Kingdom of Peria in a conquest that would put the Church of Light in a completely dominant position. That morning while he ate pomegranates and planned his invasion, the city of Fes was being infiltrated by two merchants of the God of Trade. They bribed the peasantry, they bribed the guards, they paid for a mercenary band of 2000 with 2000 gold coins, and they continuously freed the slave markets. ¡°These are fine slaves from the south, they work hard, and they are not affected by the sun see,¡± the slaver said. ¡°When we take Moru down completely, we must allow retribution against these curs,¡± Salutius said, ¡°they are despicable.¡± ¡°I know, but for know play it cool,¡± Mercurius warned his friend. They spent another 2000 gold coins, buying an army of slaves who were dispersed into the city of Fes. Again some were shown the miracles of Hiru, and the power of the three gods grew. Flour was given to mills, peasants on the peripheries were given coin in exchange for loyalty. The mercenary captains were given a tour and again the God of Trade was enthralled by the results. ¡°THIS IS AMAZING. THIS IS FANTASTIC. LOOK AT MY POWER GROW. TALK TO MARDONIUS, GET THEM TO HAVE MY STATUES.¡± Mercurius smiled wide eyed, Salutius was in awe at the voice in his head; Mercurius instead employed the local blacksmiths and stone workers, getting them to produce statues to the new deities. Fes and Ethrib slowly had more and more of these idol objects popping up. Large statues to the Goddess of Agriculture. Local villages and towns in-between the two cities were targeted. There in an alleyway in Fes, the two merchants talked. ¡°Aren¡¯t there still three more important cities we haven¡¯t even stepped foot in?¡± Salutius said. ¡°Patience, we will have them all soon enough.¡± A priest to the Church of Light began prowling, burning a statue to the Goddess of Water. ¡°Blasphemy!¡± The priest screamed, ¡°who put this blasphemy here!¡± Mercurius contacted the local street gangs of Fes. ¡°Worship the Gods¡¯ of Agriculture, Water and Trade, and we¡¯ll make it worth your while,¡± Mercurius whispered to them. ¡°Are you the ones doing strange movements within the city?¡± The hoodlum said. ¡°We¡¯ll make it worth your time, we¡¯ll give you a tour first, but here¡¯s some 100 gold coins to sweeten the deal.¡± Again Mercurius showed the hoodlum the splendour of Hiru. He bought the loyalty of several gangs this way, promising them a better deal in the new Moru that was to come. They became his sleeper agents too. He freed another 3000 slaves, splurging almost his entire gold reserves in doing so. Especially the feeding and clothing and housing that came afterwards. Again both merchants went to trade in far away lands. It was late afternoon, and their preparations in Fes were approximately 20% complete. There were mercenaries who were not bought, masses of people in the north of the city who regularly attended the Church of Light ceremonies and where loyalty to Moru would be strong. Wood and hemp was sold in ever increasing quantities in Hitara, varying the currencies used was wise for their operations. They drank coffee in Fes before purchasing 2000 more mercenaries in the north of the city. Again spies were alerted to the suspicious movements.If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. ¡°Sir someone has bought 4000 mercenaries, this is most unusual. The slave markets are empty, strange statues are sprouting everywhere.¡± ¡°You are right to tell your superior, but we are just as confused as you are. The guards at the entrances of the city are not saying anything,¡± the spy chief said. A simple office made of stone, covered in carpets and cushions, it was befitting for a spy headquarters for the city. ¡°Sir some of our informants have gone dark, we are losing our eyes and ears in the city, is someone in the army planning a coup?¡± Meanwhile in Hiru, the takeover of Moru was being planned meticulously. ¡°You have 4000 mercenaries in Fes, 2000 in Ethrib, you have sympathisers in the peasantry and recently freed slaves,¡± Mardonius ran through the numbers, ¡°you even bought hoodlums to our side?¡± ¡°They are useful for intelligence gathering, we still have absolutely no presence in Halab,¡± Salutius said. ¡°That city is a staging point of the invasion of Peria,¡± a former slave said, ¡°it has a large slave population, much larger than Ethrib or Fes, the docks there are a fertile ground.¡± ¡°We need to sleep Salutius.¡± Salutius made more trades, putting their gold back up to a comfortable 3500. They both slept comfortably waiting for the morning. Mercurius and Salutius took the town of Halab by storm, buying all the slaves. 8000 available slaves on the market meant the process was slow. They bought 3000, and then proceeded to trade on the global markets again. Hemp was a staple trade good that was popular everywhere, acquiring 3000 gold from the Raja states that was immediately invested in purchasing slaves, feeding them and giving them tours. Hiru became fabulously wealthy, the wealth flowing to these other cities that Mercurius was plotting in. 5000 mercenaries had already been purchased by the general in charge of subjugating Peria. Nonetheless gangsters, farmers, shopkeepers, mill owners and of course the ever free slaves became a fifth column inside the city. A population centre of 40,000, it had 20,000 slaves, the ones on sale were bought, some even armed, but most were simply armed with statues to the God of Agriculture and with the knowledge that slavery was going to be abolished. Coastal villages in the periphery were sold hemp, their slaves purchased and likewise being propagandised with the new religion. The two evangels of the Trade God kept splurging money and then endlessly selling goods to make up for it. By late morning Halab had 8000 freed slaves, as well as peasantry whose loyalty had been turned. ¡°You can¡¯t rush this,¡± Salutius said, ¡°we need more preparation, buy more loyalty. Make sure the spy networks are useless and military command will not be enough to stop us.¡± ¡°You are right this is going to take a while,¡± Mercurius whispered, I can¡¯t rush this. Moru will soon fall. I can¡¯t be too hasty. Halab and its environs were bribed relentlessly, food flooded dry markets. Farmers were propped up, peasants were given the idols of the new religion, and the priestly class of the Church of Light were avoided. The 8000 slaves, and 5000 urban poor, and 4000 peasants, meant the God of Agriculture and God of Water could afford two more evangels. Hiru became a production centre dedicated to spamming goods to fulfil the ambitions of toppling Moru. Everything was about to change. Patience was needed. 13. Closing in 13. Closing in The Church of Light had no idea what was hitting them. Mercurius and Salutius went to work that morning and were stopped by Gaia and Ur and the new evangels. ¡°You need to create a new God of Trade evangel, a priest, as the town of Hiru needs someone dedicated to its welfare.¡± While they were talking and without consulting Mercurius at all, Mardonius appeared and disappeared. ¡°I will look after Hiru,¡± Mardonius promised, ¡°my brothers will deal with the more pressing issues.¡± ¡°May the God of Trade protect you,¡± Mercurius said. Moru city itself was now beginning to be targeted, there were 10,000 mercenaries for hire, but Mercurius decided it was unwise to purchase them until the day of the operation, instead opting to free slaves. ¡°20,000 slaves for sale,¡± Salutius said in awe, ¡°the city size is 150,000.¡± The two of them sold teas and spices to the rich in the city allowing them to free 2000 or so. Again the process of revealing the plans for liberation were told to them. Trade was furious, hemp sold to the Halab navy enough to buy another 2000 slaves. The day got stiflingly hot, but the two merchants did not let up. Emptying slave market after slave market, giving free flour to mills, giving large bags of flour to peasants, bread to the urban poor, coin in a hand at a time. With each new convert Hiru¡¯s economic power grew, bread, corn, fruits were given to the hungry masses. Blacksmith¡¯s were patronised with thousands of orders of bronze and iron statues. Wood was sold to Uruq to lessen suspicion of the coins being distributed. Church of Light priests were noticing the idolatry everywhere, burning a few unlucky people, they were nonetheless beset upon by a bunch of angry poor people, breaking them apart on the stone alleyways, as Salutius and Mercurius slowly bribed the citizenry and residents to their side. Lir coins from the far east were given a thousand a time to local gangs who quickly switched allegiances of whole neighbourhoods. Amoreb, Lir and Hitara were sold thousands of tonnes of wood, the gold financing a crawling take over of Moru. Rather than hire mercenaries straight away they targeted the city of Mina next to the Poltu border, it was a small city of 20,000, but nonetheless strategic. 2000 slaves were freed, and the urban poor and peasantry were bribed in exactly the same way. Food stocks of the Trade God were given in massive quantities to various segments of the city like everywhere else. 2000 mercenaries hired from the periphery who were delighted at the sight of so much gold and of work. ¡°I hear Jira also needs wood, if we supply them wood, our little revolution, becomes just that little bit more likely.¡± ¡°Aren¡¯t we going to cause inflation like this,¡± Salutius said.Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere. ¡°It¡¯s a good thing we have the God of Farming and Water on our side,¡± Mercurius whispered, ¡°they can bribe the citizenry with food as well as money.¡± Mina went a step further than other cities. Their spies were outright colluding with the rebellion. ¡°As far as we know, the central government will not attack Mina, you have bribed most of the city, Mina will fall practically without a fight, the governor is currently in the next door nation of Poltu, he won¡¯t know what hit him.¡± ¡°But he might bring a bunch of angry Church of Light soldiers to attack us.¡± ¡°Mina is right next to the border, so that is a concern yes,¡± the spy admitted. ¡°Well we are about to topple the Moru government, the other Church of Light polities will of course get involved,¡± Salutius said, ¡°it¡¯s only a matter of time, even if we organise our coup flawlessly, they will raise their levies and then proceed to attack us.¡± The spy was nervous, sweat forming on his brow. Shrugging a little, and readjusting his face covering. ¡°There are still a lot of isolated border forts in the desert, they harbour garrisons which can be mobilised against you if you take too long.¡± ¡°Bribing them might be a little bit too obvious,¡± Mercurius admitted, ¡°look we are going to go back to our activities, write and inform us of any activities by the authorities, I¡¯m sure you have channels.¡± ¡°Of course,¡± the spy said. Mercurius got to freeing more and more of the slave population in Moru. He brought food, he sold wood again in various markets to acquire various coin to not arouse too much suspicion but the spies were going crazy. Diving into the palace chambers to give their reports, irritating the monarch to no end. ¡°King Khalid, I don¡¯t know what¡¯s going on, slaves are being purchased all across the empire, the coin is enormous, but-¡± that was the messenger¡¯s one and only mistake, by focusing on how much coin was made the important message was buried underneath good news. ¡°More gold for the treasury, how is the drought?¡± ¡°Sir someone is distributing food,¡± the spy said. ¡°Really?¡± ¡°Like I said sir, I think it¡¯s sedition,¡± the spy said, but he didn¡¯t quite convince the king. Commerce is good and people are being fed is sedition? What on earth is this spy talking about? The spy couldn¡¯t get his words in, but other spies began flooding the royal chambers, all scrambling to get a word in edgewise. The royal hall was splendid, golden chandeliers, sapphire trinkets, he was not a poor king by any measure, but Khalid had gotten his position through hereditary birthright; a overly top heavy bureaucracy which was more interested in collecting funding for the armies than necessarily public welfare. The Church of Light did in fairness care for the needs of the poor, but they were also busy raising troops. ¡°Squadrons of light have accompanied the general in Halab, the invasion of Peria should go smoothly milord,¡± the clergyman said. ¡°Have you noticed anything strange clergyman? My spies say odd things are happening,¡± Khalid said. ¡°Idols are popping up in the streets milord, our agents tried to burn the people responsible, but I fear the streets are dangerous and unruly.¡± ¡°Have the guards do more patrols!¡± Khalid said, ¡°you are allowed to try people for heresy and heathenry. See to it!¡± The King said with much ire. The increased security did not stop slaves being freed. With every slave being freed, the God of Agriculture and Water grew stronger. Wood was continuously sold for profits that were invested in freeing the large slave population. 22,000 slaves were freed by the end of a day. More than officially on sale, approaching some owners of slaves for purchases and offering the money right away. Mercurius and Salutius hemp and wood sales extended into the night in Zhong and the Raja states before they both collapsed onto their beds in Hiru. Moru was on precarious ground. 14. Shah Mat 14. Shah Mat ¡°General Faiz preparations for the landing are complete,¡± a lieutenant told his superior. ¡°Good, Nova will be captured and Moru can conquer the kingdom of Peria without any obstacles.¡± Their army landed on the coast, encountering a 2000 Perian force including some Church of Order shock troops. Lightning bolts were shot by the Church of Order troops which created some casualties with fireballs being shot back, creating some as well. The Moru army smashed forward with 5000 cavalry, flanking and making the Perians collapse into flight. Through rocky outcrops, roads eventually pointed to the grand city of Nova. An important naval hub, and logistical centre for any invasion force. General Faiz was successful, he marched into the city, his fleet having already secured the harbour. The Moru flag was a green flag containing a yellow flame, and it soon came over the battlements knocking down the Perian flag, a brown flag with a yellow thunderbolt. ¡°The Church of Light will rule all!¡± Faiz said, ¡°make sure the disbelievers pay their religious taxes. God is merciful. We are not!¡± The castle walls had banners of Moru unfurled, the cheers of the Church of Light creating an orchestra of gloom for the Church of Order loyalists in the city. ¡°Our city has been taken¡­ nothing will stop them marching inland,¡± a woman said in great fear. ¡°By the lord, why have you forsaken us, surely our lightning mages should have bested them.¡± While Faiz celebrated his victory over the Perians, a new design by forces he had no idea about, were being made. ¡°These are our symbols. Symbols are for the symbol minded, but they are important unifiers,¡±Mardonius said, offering cloth. He had secretly made thousands upon thousands of banners, tasking various Hiru citizens with the production of the flags as well as sigils for the new nation. ¡°Green. Blue. Yellow. The God of Water, irrigates so the God of Farming can grow, and the God of agriculture is taken by the God of Trade for our prosperity, horizontally,¡± Mardonius explained, gesturing to show how the flag would look, ¡°these are sigils, the plough, a wave for water and a cart for trade. With these we shall conquer.¡± ¡°We still need to hire the mercenaries of Moru city,¡± Mercurius said. Wood and hemp was sold in the markets of the world, before acquiring the 10,000 gold necessary. It was late afternoon, but Mardonius had given flags to many of the supporters of the new. ¡°Not yet Mardonius, we need to win supporters in Moru city,¡± Salutius warned him, ¡°this is seditious material you know that.¡± ¡°They need to be captivated, these banners mark the beginning of a new age.¡± All that time ago, with a mere statue you began the chapter of a new age. Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more. Mercurius and Salutius subtly proselytised to the masses. Urban workers, shop keepers, and local peasantry. It was evening, and the revolution was culminating. Mercurius and Mardonius giving food and drink to their supporters across the five important cities, and even the villages. Ethrib, Fes, Halb, Moru city and Mina were all mobilised. Banners and the symbols of the three gods were given to ex slaves and urban poor. Local informants to the authorities did indeed inform of some impending disaster, but the proportion of dissent was dismissed as fanciful. ¡°Large sections of the population are against the regime?¡± A spy in Fes scoffed, ¡°that can¡¯t be true.¡± Again gold was accumulated, so much spent trying to mobilise the masses of Moru against the government that they were only left with 200 gold. ¡°I will try and gather gold,¡± Mercurius said, ¡°enough for a few necessary bribes if necessary.¡± He would end a few hours later at midnight with some 2000 extra gold coins, selling a lot of wood to the Hunur nomads. It is a miracle that they don¡¯t recognise me. I am selling to my enemies, but these people will have delivered one Church of Light country into my hands. They don¡¯t even know what they¡¯re doing, or who they¡¯re messing with do they? Night turned to day, the morning of the year 570, summer; 2000 mercenaries in Ethrib, 2000 in Mina, 4000 in Fes and 10,000 near Moru city marched on the governors palaces. The gates opened without a single drop of blood being spilled. Suddenly like on command ex slaves and urban poor put out their flags from their windows, from their rooftops, from many balconies. ¡°Glory to the God of Trade, Water and Farming! Glory to the three!¡± ¡°Glory to the three!¡± Was the cacophony heard over so many cities. The city of Halab had no mercenary presence, instead relying on ex slaves, gangsters and urban poor storming barracks and intelligence offices. The green, blue yellow flags fluttered, the sigils carried by zealots. Emir Ras lost control of Ethrib almost immediately, every tower fluttering the new flags. Church of Light priests tried to control the masses burning the mobs, only to be broken to pieces. ¡°We will build new temples!¡± Salutius screamed, to ululations by the crowd, ¡°Hiru¡¯s wealth will be shared to all. Our nation is only just beginning!¡± ¡°Glory to the three!¡± Was the deafening reply. In Moru city, there were street battles between loyalists and revolutionaries. 10,000 mercenaries with the help of ex slaves and urban poor managed to subdue royal guards in their barracks. The bazaars were mostly on the side of the God of Trade, the tricolour put over many rooftops. King Khalid¡¯s palace was stormed by 1000 mercenaries. He found a secret exit through a tunnel that led to the docks. His navy although surprised mobilised to save their king. ¡°Where is the King?¡± Mercurius asked one of the mercenary captains. ¡°He¡¯s escaped sir,¡± the mercenary said. ¡°Damn it, he¡¯s going to be a pain in our arse!¡± Mercurius seethed, ¡°ok never mind, secure the city, tell them their king has fled.¡± ¡°Your king has run away!¡± Mercenaries shouted from the palace walls. The tricolour replaced the green flag with a yellow flame, the sigil that represented the three gods unfurled on the palace walls. The city walls were being adorned with the new regime¡¯s symbols. Mardonius was right, the Church of Light sympathisers in the city soon lost heart. ¡®The three¡¯ had triumphed. The city of Halab although occupied by a much more disorganised militia succeeded, Ethrib was taken, Fes was taken and Mina was taken without even bloodshed. Army garrisons were bribed, in other cases the mercenary forces told them the cities were taken to devastating effect, morale in the Moru army collapsed, their forces disintegrating. Moru had collapsed in a morning, its king fleeing on the ocean current toward Poltu, no doubt to organise a counter attack. ¡°All our work has paid off,¡± Mercurius whispered looking over the balcony of the palace of Moru city, ¡°but this is only the beginning.¡± ¡°Their army disintegrated,¡± Salutius said, a little too optimistically. ¡°You know that it isn¡¯t so simple, there are many Church of Light countries, plus that guy who went on an expedition to Peria. He might come back, like I said this is only the beginning¡­¡± Mercurius said wistfully. The sight of a city completely taken over by the God of Trade filled Mercurius with a smile. ¡°You did well evangel. But now begins the true test,¡± the God of Trade said in his head. Now it begins. 15. Reconfiguration 15. Reconfiguration Such a bold coup, meant that an entire country had fallen to ¡®the three,¡¯ the entire civil service, the bureaucracy, the army, the administration had to be completely rethought. The God of Trade, Water and Farming were not fit for a country called ¡®Moru,¡¯ the country was renamed ¡®Yerek,¡¯ after a local word for three. A lot of soldiers surrendered to the new regime, and a lot of peasants would soon find themselves out of a job. Yerek abolished slavery, this time without compensation, slaves were given gold and food, although Mercurius realised too much gold would lead to inflation which would cause its own problems. The sheer scale of converts and worshippers of the God of Agriculture and Water led there to be 6 evangels of each. They could produce enormous quantities of food and water that could feed the entire country, this made the peasantry largely redundant, nonetheless someone needed to collect and distribute the food, but tilling the land was now a pointless activity. Gaia and Latha were known to Mercurius as priests to the God of Farming, they produced enormous amounts of food for Hiru, but there were now four other evangels who increased the food production, and four more evangels for the God of Water, they travelled in pairs, there was another evangel for the God of Trade, Mardonius¡¯s girlfriend. Zelra was a sweet woman, she loved Mardonius dearly, why? No one really knew, but he was happy, and she was happy and that was all that mattered. She helped deliver the tonnes of food. Mercurius and Salutius thought of the temples that must be constructed. ¡°We already have so many worshippers?¡± Salutius said, ¡°you saying we need more God Power?¡± ¡°For sure,¡± Mercurius said, ¡°what is going to come is not going to be pretty Salutius, the entire Church of Light is absolutely fuming that one of their rulers had the rug pulled underneath him.¡± ¡°So we need more,¡± Salutius said. ¡°It will cement our economic situation,¡± Mercurius whispered. Capturing the royal treasury yielded some 40,000 Moru gold coins, these were spent on the procurement of marble. As it turned out, Moru had its own marble reserves in the deep deserts of the south, so the gold reserves weren¡¯t entirely necessary. The south was a place Salutius and Mercurius had not bothered to placate, the people there were confused to hear of the toppling of Moru and the replacement by ¡®Yerek.¡¯ Food parcels, water, wine, the freeing of slaves was appreciated by some. ¡°This is the town of Qar Sara, we produce marble, I hear you want it,¡± the overseer said. ¡°We are to build temples to the Gods¡¯ of Trade, Water and Farming,¡± Mercurius explained, ¡°we know there has been shortages of food, so we shall deliver lots of it.¡± Food and water and wine flooded into the southern deserts. Local chieftains were not pleased with the abolishing of slavery and the new religion frankly annoyed them, but the bribes were welcomed. ¡°Our administration will not demand taxes of anyone,¡± Mercurius said, ¡°maybe dock fees, but we are more than capable of generating funds ourselves. The God of Trade is generous.¡± ¡°The God of Trade¡­¡± one of the chiefs muttered angrily, they clearly did not believe in it, ¡°fucking infidel scum¡­¡± they said underneath their breath.Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. Roughly 5% of the population were slavers or profited off of slavery, these elements were either seditious supporters of the new regime, or had fled to neighbouring Church of Light countries. The freed slaves were jubilant enthusiastic supporters of Yerek, the God Power acquired by ¡®the three¡¯ was beyond imagination. Without the need for secrecy the God Power increased, as thousands prayed to the new deities, Church of Light buildings were still operational and legal, but they were definitely not friendly to the new regime. The news of no taxes and free water and food spread slowly, but it increased the God Power some more. External trade was put on hold, as thousands of jobless labourers were put to the task of building temples. Food was distributed in large clusters with the help of Mardonius and Zelra in the major cities of Ethrib, Halab, Moru City, Fes and Mina; the smaller towns and villages were given subsidies of food and water, moving evangels around to help in the process. Slavers fled in ships, some aristocratic lords eyed the situation with unease. Yerek unlike Moru was more republican in nature, they had no king, no aristocracy. 2000 mercenaries were sent southwards and were to catch slavers and free the slaves. These actions, alongside the reputation of the regime had already scared most of those who profited off of slavery to run away. Mercurius visited Mina, and immediately began mustering defenders for what seemed like the inevitable. ¡°We must fortify Mina, it is too close to Poltu,¡± Mercurius said, ¡°a temple to the Gods should be built, but we must make sure the city is fortified to withstand a siege.¡± ¡°What is the nearest Poltu city?¡± Salutius asked. ¡°The city of Gharb, it has 80,000 people so is a sizeable settlement,¡± a guard explained. ¡°We will need to undermine the loyalty of the settlement and seize it at some point,¡± Salutius said, ¡°that will make their invasion of Yerek even harder.¡± ¡°Good thinking,¡± Mercurius nodded, ¡°they will have to first take back one of their own cities.¡± ¡°The Church of Light is owed no cities, we will make sure they falter.¡± Internal administration was prioritised, lugging marble to construction sites, making sure food supplies were fully stocked. A spy came running to Mercurius and Salutius, having recognised their faces. ¡°You should be wary of the southern tribes, reconstituting the army might be an idea,¡± the spy said. ¡°Why is that?¡± ¡°The southern tribes are Church of Light, many depend on slaving for their incomes.¡± Mercurius turned his head and broke into a smile. Crossbows. ¡°I need to do some external trading,¡± Mercurius said, ¡°tell Mardonius I have an idea for civil defence. One that doesn¡¯t exclusively rely on peasant militias and mercenaries.¡± ¡°What?¡± The spy asked, curious beyond anything. ¡°Crossbows,¡± Mercurius said quietly and with great excitement. He sold wood to Balna, and bought their iron, a lot of it, depositing it in various cities. Salutius helped the fellow but soon returned to stocking marble to various temple construction sites. The arming of loyalists to Yerek was simple, but the evangels of the God of Trade began tasking blacksmiths with producing crossbows and bolts. Any one whose loyalty to Yerek seemed generally positive was given a crossbow and some bolts. The entire country was mobilised, local villages and hamlets and the big cities¡¯ population were now being armed and armoured. I hope we are quick enough to deal with the inevitable backlash we have created. Mina was armed quickly, the blacksmiths producing weaponry for the locals to use. Crossbows and bolts, ex slaves and peasants queued to pick up their weapon. ¡°Defend the Republic of Yerek! For the three!¡± A man said lifting his small crossbow up in the air. Mina¡¯s periphery was also armed, Mercurius hopping from place to place to enhance the defence of the new state he had created. Local nobility would be pissed, slavers were pissed, the merchant classes were ambivalent; the merchants had less to sell, but were barely taxed. The low taxes and high welfare produced a population less willing to revolt, but there were obvious economic shocks from completely changing how the economy worked. We don¡¯t have lightning or fire or earth mages. Salutius thought, but perhaps we have something far more fearsome. 16. Shockwaves 16. Shockwaves Peria was overjoyed at the news of the fall of Moru but angry at the rise of a new pagan realm. Nonetheless knocking out a Church of Light country from the competition was appreciated, even if some foul abomination had taken its place. General Faiz held Nova, but now he was under siege, 15,000 Perian troops, with many Church of Order priests shooting lightning bolts at his guards. ¡°What do you mean Moru has fallen!¡± Faiz screamed, ¡°that is ridiculous, that must be false information told to us by the Perians. I want the spy-¡± ¡°It¡¯s true,¡± another spy said, running up to the commander. ¡°How?¡± He said throwing his arms up and down in a tantrum. ¡°Pagans took the major cities, they had a God of Trade or something, our informants in the Churches tell us of a sudden taking of all the settlements,¡± the messenger said desperately. Faiz¡¯s face turned sour, a tanned brown face, he sighed deeply at the news. He nodded and then looked at his soldiers. He put a brave face, but deep down he was flabbergasted and scared. ¡°How much supplies do we have?¡± ¡°Enough for a month sir,¡± a soldier curtly replied. We can¡¯t defend Nova and take on these imposters. How can Moru have fallen? Surely that¡¯s impossible. What kind of trickery could they have possibly done? ¡°This just came in just now sir, the Perians are-¡± he was interrupted by lightning bolts falling next to him. Falling to the floor, the ground shook, and Perians entered onto one of the walls. ¡°Damn it, who is manning the walls?¡± They were being systematically taken out, dried cinders of corpses falling over the battlements. He clasped his forehead in pain. ¡°Reinforce the walls!¡± Besieged? Me. I am besieged. This is supposed to be an invasion. Fuck. What a nonsense. He clenched his fists in anger and frustration. Poltu spies reported on their findings in Moru now ¡®Yerek¡¯ with great haste. Carrier pigeons were being sent frantically. Spies riding to Gharb to give news to the local governor. ¡°King Khalid has been overthrown,¡± the spy said. ¡°How is that possible? Surely his army should have crushed any rebels?¡± ¡°We are not too sure, our spies saw suspicious movements, trades and then their cities were filled with masses of rebels. It¡¯s like someone bribed the masses en-masse, I can¡¯t explain it any other way. It was incredible.¡± ¡°Someone bribed their cities, what else happened?¡± the governor asked. ¡°They¡¯ve abolished slavery,¡± the spy said to much shock.The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. The governor sat down and looked at the spy almost in disbelief. ¡°Who does the work then?¡± He asked stupefied. ¡°That¡¯s not the point, the worshippers of ¡®the three¡¯ seem to want to liberate the slaves.¡± Governor Karim of Gharb stared at his agents on the field and tapped his finger on the oak wooden table top. ¡°Give me a whore!¡± The governor screamed. ¡°Sir, this is serious,¡± the spy said, flabbergasted. ¡°Give me two whores!¡± He shouted back in defiance. ¡°You couldn¡¯t finish them both last time!¡± A rude guard shouted from behind a wall. ¡°Find him! Flog him! Flog that man!¡± Karim shouted in palpitations, ¡°damn it, what a headache you¡¯ve given me. Report this to the king of Poltu, maybe he¡¯ll have an idea of what to do.¡± ¡°King Ahmed will be told soon sir.¡± The governor¡¯s quarters were garish and overly bright and colourful, more of a place of pleasure than administration. Thousands of troops had already been gathering for other purposes. An aristocrat, albeit appointed to the position of governor, the title was not completely inheritable. This makes my plot against Ahmed almost impossible. If I start a civil war now, who knows what those pagans might end up doing? The city of Gharb was full of whispers. Merchants and soldiers alike, slave and common man talked of the total toppling of the government of Moru. In Lori, the politically isolated Church of Truth nation, built extra sea and land walls. ¡°Build more, if the Church of Light comes here, they should be met with so much rock that they won¡¯t possibly want to chew on it. If they spend their entire raiding budget doing so, they will lose heart!¡± The Earth Mage priest said, as he put rock after rock in place. Messages came from Lori spies that were in Moru. The King of Lori Nathaniel stared over his fortifications as a piece of parchment was put in his hands, he extended the message in front of him and began reading. He wrinkled his forehead in order to read it more effectively. ¡°Is this true?¡± He said, ¡°who made up these lies?¡± ¡°Sir, everyone is saying it¡¯s true,¡± the spymaster said, ¡°I¡¯ve received multiple letters.¡± ¡°Moru is toppled and is now called Yerek. King Khalid fled on the ocean, this is all unbelievable. If someone spat in the Church of Light then we should hold a feast, but by God pagans took them down? How?¡± ¡°The God of Trade, Farming and Water sir, they successfully turned a whole lot of the populace against their king and turfed him out, Khalid was nearly captured our spies from the palace reported. The forces gathering in Gharb were in fact preparing for civil war, but maybe not now, it¡¯s hard to tell,¡± the spy said so thoroughly that the king was just impressed more than anything. ¡°Anything else?¡± King Nathaniel asked, looking with skepticism. ¡°The people are being armed, a lot of them. These pagans are aware that they have the ire of the Church of Light community and nations, so they are trying to arm their supporters as quickly as possible.¡± ¡°Hahaha, goodness me, with what pitchforks?¡± The king laughed in roaring laughter. ¡°Crossbows,¡± the spy said matter of factly. ¡°Ooh good choice,¡± the king admitted almost too quickly, ¡°is there any chance that they will spread their ways, these pesky pagans?¡± ¡°The God of Trade supporters could very well target Gharb next, I believe Lori is too far away for them to target, but the Church of Light nations might want to take us out, we are quite strategically located.¡± ¡°Tell me something I don¡¯t already know,¡± the king said, ¡°what¡¯s the political stability of the new regime?¡± ¡°Pretty rock solid, they freed the slaves and are feeding the poor somehow, ah also there are no taxes, or very few of them anyway.¡± ¡°Kingdom ruled by a madman,¡± Nathaniel joked. ¡°That¡¯s another thing, they¡¯re calling it a republic by all accounts, there is no monarchy in the new system.¡± ¡°They¡¯re just asking for trouble now,¡± Nathaniel said shaking his head, ¡°so they are pagans, worship three gods, and they don¡¯t have a king or any kind of monarchy.¡± ¡°Yes sir,¡± the spy said. The king burst out into rapturous laughter. A tall blonde man, his island was warm, and he had tanned skin, but his natural complexion without sunshine would be considerably paler. Piercing dark blue eyes, he was an intimidating figure even without finding he was a monarch. ¡°Maybe I should visit this¡­ Republic. Just a diplomatic tour,¡± he said quietly. ¡°Sir,¡± the spy said, ¡°are we sufficiently fortified?¡± ¡°All our priests ever do is fortify Lori city and its environs, I think we¡¯ll be fine, besides my son is around, and we have capable stewards. Don¡¯t we?¡± ¡°Of course sir.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t grovel, tell me if any of them are doing a bad job ok.¡± ¡°Sure.¡± Lori¡¯s king would visit Yerek, partly to see if any of the rumours were true. Nathaniel probably just wanted to spectate battles as was bored on his island nation, a 30 year old man he had grown bored of just endlessly making his island nation safe. He would witness something. 17. Coalescing 17. Coalescing Salutius rather than fully going on the defensive also began picking apart the city of Gharb. He realised that Moru currency was going to be useless so he sold wood to the Chenep and Hunur nomads, acquiring Uruq gold which he promptly used on freeing slaves. Mercurius found out what Salutius was scheming and joined in. The two of them began the process they had so meticulously done on what was once the Moru kingdom. They bribed peasants and urban poor, and idols to the God of Trade, Water and Farming soon began appearing. 4000 Uruq gold was spent on freeing 4500 slaves. Mercurius and Salutius soon found out the plans of the Poltu kingdom, the local governor Karim had 5000 private soldiers, what he was doing with them was not known by Mercurius or Salutius; they imagined it was going to be used against them. How can he already have 5000 mercenaries hired, he surely doesn¡¯t have infinite pockets like we do. Was he planning a civil war? 20,000 available slaves were up for purchasing, Mercurius and Salutius darting back and forth to free as many of them as possible. Mardonius stopped Mercurius catching him in Hiru. ¡°What kind of nonsense are you planning now? We need to focus on civil defence on building temples, on fortifying Yerek from the inevitable counter strike.¡± ¡°If they come from Poltu, making Gharb weak is a good idea, it will weaken them strategically, they will not be able to invade so easily,¡± Mercurius explained. ¡°There¡¯s boundless desert that their armies could waltz through,¡± Mardonius warned, ¡°do not underestimate them, we caught Moru off guard, but now all their attention will be on us.¡± ¡°Fine Mardonius, I understand,¡± Mercurius said, ¡°we need to strengthen the defences, but that doesn¡¯t mean we should become too insular, the God of Trade is for all Mardonius.¡± ¡°It certainly is,¡± Mardonius replied, ¡°but don¡¯t get too crazy, I have a fear that we might be overrun if we are too ambitious.¡± Marble was transported from Qar Sara to the various temple construction projects, other Church of Light Kingdoms already had small detachments ready to fight against Yerek. Salutius and Mercurius bribed poor peasants, and ex slaves going back to Hiru to ask for more flags. Poltu had a crimson red flag with a golden flame, Salutius thought of the day when the flags would be toppled and the flag of Yerek would be raised; green, blue and yellow raised over the various cities of Poltu. Mercurius noticed that Gharb had thriving fish markets and a thriving salt industry, the salt trade was owned by the governor generating profits he could use for administration. ¡°Do we have salt flats we could use?¡± Mercurius asked. ¡°I believe they are owned by private merchants,¡± Salutius said, ¡°given our other reforms, taking those might be politically¡­ dangerous.¡± ¡°Right, for now let¡¯s focus on what we were doing,¡± Mercurius said, pissing off too many people at the same time, is never wise. Spies noticed the appearing and disappearing merchants. They prowled the streets trying to catalogue the infiltration taking place.Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings. It seems one man is bald, and the other has short black hair. They¡¯ve been bribing peasants, paying for slaves¡¯ freedom and targeting the more disadvantaged. Extremely dangerous behaviour. Our governor Karim doesn¡¯t even know his city is next on the chopping block. We should warn him. The spies were too late to warn Governor Karim, Karim had already mobilised his private retinue of 5000, gathering 10,000 Poltu regulars, assisted by 200 Church of Light priests. ¡°We will rid the world of these infidels!¡± Karim said lifting a sword into the air triumphantly. While he did so, men rode by offering 1000 camels and 1000 horsemen. ¡°Our trade has been disrupted by this new heathen ¡®Republic,¡¯ we want revenge,¡± the slaver said. He offered his sword in a horizontal way, holding scabbard in one hand, and sharp end gently balanced on his gloved hand. ¡°I accept your services, Moru shall be restored I assure you,¡± Karim said, who knows I might even become a king of Moru, ¡°get the baggage train ready, we ride for Mina!¡± Mercurius and Salutius returned to Mina to warn the residents of the impending attack, they had gleaned enough to know what was coming. ¡°An army led by the governor is coming your way,¡± Mercurius said to the head of the intelligence, ¡°make sure enough of our supporters have crossbows.¡± Men armed with crossbows and helmets, were quickly paraded on the parade ground. Many had a rudimentary understanding of war. ¡°Alright! Time to practice for war!¡± A drill instructor said. Mercurius and Salutius returned to Gharb, selling Hiru¡¯s wood for Raja coin. Slavers in the city grateful for the coin, the slaves even more grateful for the freedom. Mercurius and Salutius would teleport to locations where they thought the marching army would be sending frequent updates to Mina. ¡°Can the city withstand a siege?¡± Salutius asked, ¡°I fear they will surrender when fireballs start flying their way.¡± ¡°With our powers, any city could theoretically last forever,¡± Mercurius said, ¡°we can supply the city, the real question is do the slaves have the heart to fight.¡± While they argued over this fact, a semi competent commander was chosen in the defence. Arbogast an ethnic Locus, an ex slave who had been kidnapped in his childhood by slaving raiders. He was muscular and had been expected to do lots of heavy lifting as a slave, he was giving impromptu speeches on the defence of the city. ¡°We must defend our newfound freedom! If the Republic is to last, we must defend with our lives as well as our pockets. Of course the Church of Light wishes to put us back in chains, we must accept the crossbow, and not let elements of the old regime cling back to power!¡± The speech was powerfully done, eliciting a roar from the ex slaves. However, while he gave rousing speeches, a mob of Church of Light supporters raised the flag of Moru, the green flag with a yellow flame and began chanting seditious chants. ¡°Death to the infidels! Death to the infidels! Long live the King! Khalid, god nothing else!¡± The rebels took over a barracks, and the situation began to spiral out of control, Mercurius and Salutius came back and noted the carnage already unfolding. Fire balls were being thrown, and people particularly women were screaming. Despite the chaos, the investment in crossbows was not without benefit. Crossbow bolts were shot, hitting and killing some of the priests, and killing some of the Moru loyalists. One of the food stores was hit, wheat turning into cinders. Salutius went wide eyed and then relaxed slightly. ¡°I suppose it¡¯s not the end of the world, we can always replace food,¡± Salutius said, ¡°still what a mess.¡± The newly armed and armoured men slowly whittled down and broke up the Church of Light mob, the volleys of bolts successfully defeating them. Agents still loyal to Moru, had probably incited the uprising, nonetheless their clergy were promptly expelled from the city. ¡°While freedom of religion is important, we know of a Poltu invasion force coming, and we can¡¯t risk seditious elements while defending the city!¡± Men armed with crossbows said, far too leniently. Seditious elements remained, and perhaps always would, but a tremendous test for Mina and for the Yerek republic was about to befall it. Night soon fell, but that didn¡¯t scare the Church of Light. 18. Siege of Halab 18. Siege of Halab Faiz had been notified of the fall of the Kingdom he had served, but that didn¡¯t stop him fighting the Church of Order. In fact he faced off the 15,000 strong army anyway. Lightning bolts and fire balls were exchanged both ways, in a stunning display of god power, the two gods¡¯ of war channeling the devotion of the faithful. Faiz used flanking cavalry to hit the Church of Order army hard. General Sanchez in charge of the Perians managed to inflict heavy blows as the native Church of Order priests inside of Nova began shooting lightning bolts at Faiz. Faiz cavalry did indeed score casualties, but the lightning bolts hit and weakened his men, killing lieutenants and damaging morale. His fire mages indiscriminately fired back, burning parts of the city. Sanchez had 15,000 and Faiz had 20,000, so Faiz should have had the advantage, but the Church of Order priests were doing their damage. Lightning bolts slowly assassinated important figures. ¡°Damn it! Find those heathens and kill them! By god these lands are promised to us!¡± Faiz shouted. In the middle of battle, a letter came to Faiz. If you so wish, we will allow you safe passage back to your homeland. I hear pagans rule your homeland. Raise your voice if that¡¯s what you wish. Signed yours sincerely Sanchez. Faiz grimaced, raised his hand and shouted: ¡°We are leaving! Grant what you said you would, or I will slaughter all of you!¡± Faiz had lost 1500 troops, something he was not happy with, he still had 18,500 men left to take back to Moru. I¡¯m not finished here. I will return. He thought grimacing beyond words. Faiz¡¯s ships were boarded and they sailed to Moru. Two days later Faiz¡¯s force sailed to Halab and began siege works. The gates were sealed shut, barricaded with stone, still Faiz used his Church of Light priests to try burn the gates down. Disorder was spotted inside the city. ¡°Our holy men are doing holy work,¡± Faiz said, ¡°look at those pagans burn.¡± Which was true, but crossbow bolts were heard endlessly clicking and dispatching of the Moru sympathisers. Faiz turned to his lieutenants. ¡°What is that sound?¡± He asked. ¡°I have no idea,¡± a lieutenant said, ¡°shall we storm the walls sir?¡± I can¡¯t believe our loyalists haven¡¯t opened the gates somewhere yet. Some fireballs had made fissures in the walls, creating a breach. Faiz smiled, his cavalrymen already willing to report what his eyes could see. ¡°Aim for the breach, some of you scale the walls to divide their attention!¡± Faiz commanded. Finally get my chance to avenge Khalid. However Mardonius and Zelra had found out of the siege, and had more crossbowmen in waiting, he just needed to stall them. Ex slaves, urban poor lined up in the streets.Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original. ¡°Get the ammunition ready!¡± Men shouted, beckoning the bolts through with waved hands. Faiz¡¯s cavalry attempted to smash through the breach but wooden stakes had already been prepared to outright kill or at least de-horse riders. Crossbow bolts shot and shot. ¡°Shoot in volleys men, that way they¡¯re always receiving metal!¡± Faiz¡¯s men fell off their horses, and infantry likewise were hit in the head. Fireballs smashed into the towers, causing many to duck and others to even flee. ¡°Come back here and shoot at those pricks!¡± A man said, ¡°someone aim for those mages, take them out!¡± Screaming was constant from the Halab garrison to the point Faiz stared with consternation. ¡°War cry!¡± He shouted to a roars from his troops, ¡°send in the next lot.¡± Soldiers clambered on the battlements, and there they had more luck, but even then people from down below targeted the Moru soldiers, the towers shooting targeted shots at the soldiers as they attempted to storm the city. With every click of a crossbow, a man fell over or was close to, Faiz¡¯s men had high morale and drive to begin with. They took over a stretch of wall, but the peasant militia was being reinforced constantly, even the lousiest shots got lucky sometimes, a Moru soldier in the rump, falling over the walls and into the ground below. The breach was cleared to a small rise of morale in Faiz¡¯s army, but entering the city just revealed small wooden palisades with crossbowmen shooting past the clearing. "Shields up men!¡± An officer desperately shouted. Even then, mere moments later he was struck in the foot and fell over. As one was taken out the formation opened up and the cacophony of bolt fire killed a whole cluster of Moru soldiers. Fireballs pelted the walls, Church of Light priests screaming their damnations against the pagans. ¡°The infidel will burn for their transgressions!¡± ¡°For the God of Trade! For the three!¡± A war cry from the within the city arose. A statue was toppled by a particularly eager Church of Light priest who came foolishly into the city, he was quickly riddled with bolts. Again Faiz attempted to take a wall, and again his men were whittled down rather efficiently. While it was certainly true that the troops guarding the settlement were not high quality they did not need to be. Mercenary cavalry awaited orders from Mardonius as they spotted Faiz¡¯s headquarters. ¡°Let them exhaust their forces a bit more,¡± Mardonius said, ¡°I will see to the defence.¡± All the while ex slaves and urban poor were armed with crossbows, the temple constructions continued uninterrupted, many of the builders prepared to fight if necessary. ¡°Are you sure we are not needed Mardonius?¡± A builder said rather enthusiastically, ¡°not yet, if need be we will fight them in the streets.¡± Another breach was made, and Faiz sent more troops to try storm the breach. He was correct that palisades were not so quickly made. His troops were viciously targeted by bolt fire, they saw an opening and they went deeper into the city, and the houses and apartments near the northern stretch of the city walls began bellowing salvos at them. They had landed near the eastern coast, and attacked the eastern walls, so the walls next to the sea were assumed to be weaker, but the ex slave community there took out 4000 of Faiz¡¯s army. He was down to 10,000, a little bit demoralised but nonetheless confident that the city would fall. Before Faiz even made his camp though, 2000 cavalry thundered into the rear, Faiz himself was taken out in the charge, a spear driven through his chest, the Church of Light priests put up stiff resistance, but were cut by the rushing horses, albeit many of whom were burned. Crossbowmen rushed out from the city walls, a generally ill advised tactic, but the combination of attacks had Faiz¡¯s army crack and crumble, quickly surrendering. ¡°Drop your weapons! Drop your weapons now!¡± Men with crossbows said to the far superior armed and armoured soldiers. Faiz was bleeding into the sand, while the mercenary cavalry had lost some 600 men in the rear assault. Mardonius awarded the commander a handsome 900 gold, 600 as restitution for the dead, and 300 to the commander. The commander graciously accepted and looked at the site of such a victory. ¡°Bitter work, war,¡± he said wistfully and with forlorn, ¡°I should have been a poet.¡± An old man, covered in scars he had seen his fair share of scraps. ¡°Ah, thank you for your services to the Republic commander, no doubt we will need you again.¡± ¡°You are welcome,¡± the mercenary commander said, refusing a handshake. A victory was a victory, even if it came with a cost. The prisoners were lugged back, but without their general and without the priests they were largely harmless and would soon come to understand what Yerek was really about. 19. Siege of Mina 19. Siege of Mina Karim had a slightly smaller army than Faiz had, 17,200, the 200 were Church of Light priests, 2000 cavalry; 1000 horse, 1000 camels, 5000 mercenaries gather by Karim under suspicious circumstances and 10,000 Poltu soldiers, essentially the national military. Under a crimson banner with a golden flame they marched along a coastal road toward Mina. There were cliffs and then beaches, but nonetheless the Poltu army met no resistance as it marched across the border. The city of Mina only had 20,000 residents, and the news of local Church of Light subversion had in fact reached Karim. Either way I can expand my power. I can make Mina a fief, stealing from disbelievers is not a crime, especially polytheists. Not even Ahmed will dispute my conquests. Nonetheless, these people overthrew Moru. That didn¡¯t come out of nowhere. Mercurius and Salutius had successfully bribed the purchasable slaves and now had moved onto the various poor workers in the city. They had successfully brought tonnes of flour into the city, this lowered food prices, free food and drink was the God of Trade way to the hearts of men, not all men could be bribed, but a bribe would at least get you listened to. Peasants in the periphery and local shopkeepers were given free goods, the dock workers, the salt workers and blacksmiths. Blacksmiths and stone workers happily lapping up the free goods, producing statues to the God of Trade, Water and Farming. Meanwhile Karim had been preparing his siege. Cautious by nature he simply blasted the walls with his Church of Light priests. Fireball after fireball until they grew tired of throwing fireballs. It used a lot of God Power, but the Church of Light was vast. ¡°Blast the gates and make as many breaches as possible, I want that city in our hands within a week!¡± He cautiously probed the walls, palisades being put behind each and every breach. ¡°Crafty pagans,¡± Karim whispered, ¡°should we start the siege yet?¡± He muttered to himself. He did not, instead bombarding the walls, perhaps he would have but then a spy came up to him and revealed some information. ¡°Faiz of Moru was defeated outside the city walls of Halab. Most of his army are captives now.¡± Karim was wide eyed at the information staring at the messenger with trepidation. ¡°Really?¡± He asked in a scared voice. ¡°Yes really, Faiz was stabbed in the chest, we don¡¯t know what¡¯s going to happen to his troops,¡± the spy said nodding, ¡°Moru is dead for now, unless you wish to revive it for your own ends.¡±If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. ¡°Who am I speaking to?¡± Karim said to the spy, ¡°you know very well Ahmed doesn¡¯t take kindly to sedition.¡± ¡°Is that why you were raising your own private army, to be a loyalist?¡± The spy spat back. Karim laughed, looked down and then took a glance of anger at the spy. ¡°Who are you? Are you a plotter or a spotter?¡± Karim said, ¡°or both? Ah I shouldn¡¯t discuss these things anyway, your loyalty is with the wind.¡± ¡°Says the plotter,¡± the spy quickly riposted, ¡°united to do something for the realm because of an external threat.¡± ¡°I am a pious man,¡± Karim retorted. ¡°Oh for sure, is that why you are currently blasting Mina¡¯s walls, your piety?¡± ¡°You are a very witty spy, anyone ever tell you that?¡± Karim laughed, ¡°what are you doing here, really?¡± ¡°Nothing,¡± the spy said, ¡°nothing at all.¡± He then wandered off. Karim kept bombarding the walls, tasking his men to make a fortified camp, and tasking his cavalry to keep supply lines open behind him. ¡°Taking a city is like making a woman cum,¡± he said openly and loudly, ¡°you have to prepare.¡± People outright sighed and clutched their foreheads in embarrassment, openly shaking their heads at their commander. ¡°Truly a poet,¡± a soldier said. ¡°Think of the women you will bed when we conquer the city,¡± Karim said. This motivated the villainy of some of the soldiers, motivating their drive for conquest. On the other end the city of Mina fortified inner parts of the city, citizens got crossbows even women were equipped with them, bolts accumulating. The walls were now being blown up in parts, fireballs arcing the sky and hitting residential buildings. ¡°At some point I think we will have to hit them back,¡± an ex slave said, ¡°this is getting ridiculous.¡± Mercurius appeared and began addressing the garrison. ¡°Over the next few days, we will orchestrate a revolt in Gharb, which will make the besieging army not have supplies, as you well know, the God of Farming and Water gives us infinite supplies. We can sit them out until the end of time and not lose a single bit of nutrients,¡± Mercurius explained, ¡°so that¡¯s what we¡¯ll do.¡± The whole day was spent repairing walls and building the temples. Mercurius and Salutius continued their bribery of the citizenry of Gharb. Mardonius visited southern tribes on the traditional borders with Moru, he offered them food and water, many accepted, he offered statues to the God of Trade, Farming and Water, some were more hesitant than others, but Yerek had a soft power approach to these nomadic and semi nomadic people. ¡°I understand many of your people were sold into slavery, and some were even selling into slavery,¡± Mardonius said, ¡°our religion is against that, we freed the slaves, we will be under attack by Church of Light countries, they will attack our cities, try to take our villages, try to kill us. I know of your cavalry strength, that is why I am here, I hope that is not too shameless,¡± the old man said to the tribesmen. ¡°We have heard of the overthrow of Moru, and the relative prosperity you bring,¡± a tribal elder said, ¡°our cavalry can of course be recruited, but we want assurances of security.¡± ¡°You are free to drink our water and eat our food,¡± Mardonius said, ¡°we break bread like brothers and share our resources with you. All we is ask is your assistance in what you are good at.¡± Mardonius moved some tribes from neutrality to outright siding with Yerek, and moved hostile tribes to neutrality. The southern border rather than being a sea of hostile peoples became friendly or simply not wanting to intervene in disputes between the Republic and its many troubles. Mardonius had done his job flawlessly, Zelra meanwhile had continued the temple construction throughout the land without a hitch, moving between cities without much troubles. Another evangel to the God of Trade was probably necessary, as the worshippers grew and the needs of the masses grew too. 20. Cut off 20. Cut off After two days, Gharb revolted, the citizenry arrested the garrison and took the city over. The tricolour replaced Poltu¡¯s red flags with golden flames, replacing it with the green, blue and yellow of the Republic. Yerek took over the city in a triumphant roar, the ex slaves and poor taking to the streets and seizing the governor¡¯s palace. Karim who had been besieging Mina would find out about the loss of his seat of power subsequently, but many of his agents were too busy being imprisoned. ¡°That¡¯s the one, that¡¯s a member of the secret police!¡± A poor man said, clubbing the man to death. Poltu had a security service whose goal it was to root out disorder and imprison dissidents. Of course useful, but also despised by many. Mercurius and Salutius wanted to commit proper trials but the urban poor simply killed them. Many of course fled eastwards toward Polt, the capital of the Poltu state. In-between were many village and town oases, rural people who could be swayed one way or the other. Mercurius and Salutius would work on them, but they were interrupted by news of a new evangel to the God of Trade. A man named Nichomacus, a trader from Peria who had been inspired by events in the nascent Republic and decided to join the faith and cause. He had dark hair, and dark eyes and darker skin too, explaining himself as having ancestors from beyond Moru. Nichomacus joined Mardonius in persuading more tribes further south to be friendly to Yerek, he was successful, some coin, but a lot of food and water persuaded one particular chieftain without even much persuasion. ¡°Our clan had to flee from the south due to drought, I will aid Yerek, and will be thankful to them for the rest of my life, what is it you need of us?¡± Mardonius and Nichomacus looked at each other cautiously. ¡°One of our city¡¯s is under siege,¡± Mardonius explained, ¡°we need cavalry to harass the besieging army¡¯s supplies, maybe even attack them directly. Of course the loot belongs to you.¡± ¡°How generous,¡± the tribal leader said, ¡°is that it?¡± ¡°We have tasked others to do the same job,¡± Mardonius explained, ¡°we can always give you more supplies if you need them.¡± ¡°Thank you,¡± the tribal leader said, ¡°we greatly appreciate the gesture.¡± 5000 cavalry rode straight for Karim¡¯s rear but he had no idea. Mardonius and Nichomacus did not stop in the night, Karim found out about disrupted supply lines, and immediately broke into a fury. ¡°What do you mean the city fell?¡± He said, ¡°how in the name?¡± He screamed. It was pitch black, and the city of Mina was fully prepared for war, readying the reserves to attack the besieging army. 2000 camel riders and 3000 horse appeared behind Karim¡¯s army, Mardonius told the garrison of the proximity of the tribal cavalry and sallied out. Karim was in his camp, he had watchtowers and sentries, but the crossbowmen began shooting at them.This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. ¡°We are under attack!¡± One of the soldier¡¯s screamed. It was not immediate, but the army got ready, crossbowmen shot at the camped army, killing the guards up top, Church of Light priests shot fireballs into the dark night, hitting some but often hitting mere ground. In the next few moments camels and horses charged in through the southern and western entrances, Karim attempted to halt the rot but crossbowmen charged the northern and western entrances. The mercenaries opened the gates, drawing blade and spear, assisted by crossbowmen who shot at the beleaguered defenders. Besiegers became besieged, as 5000 cavalry smashed inside, assisted by 2000 mercenary melee units and 10,000 crossbowmen. The Church of Light priests successfully turned some people into cinders, but they were quickly targeted and eliminated. Karim who had banked on his campaign becoming some kind of expansion of his power was sorely disappointed, looking at the situation with the stark realisation that he might die. ¡°Kill them all!¡± He said attempting to rally his men. Crossbow bolts whizzed by, grazing his cheek and he hid behind a few of his men¡¯s shields. They gathered around trying to defend a beleaguered position, but camel riders stabbed shrieking men, the momentum having people rush into tents that collapsed, being pierced like pigs. The crossbowmen stopped shooting, trying to not hit their own, only the best shots taking shots at the small clumps of Poltu soldiers who mounted a resistance. Karim hitched a horse and ran off the battlefield; he had a worse fate than the common soldier who died. ¡°Your commander is fleeing!¡± Became a chant repeated by mercenaries at first and the rest of the Yerek army. The Church of Light priests were vengefully shot by crossbowmen, the army began clattering weapons down. Some 500 crossbowmen had been killed, mainly by flames, 4000 Poltu soldiers lay dead and 11,000 were captured. The tribesmen began looting the baggage trains, the militia were informed and backed off, the mercenaries receiving bribes in gold coins by Mardonius to not be too upset. Zelra noted the construction of all temples in the major cities bar Gharb which had yet to begin construction of any temples to the new religion. Food and water flowed to all the cities, wood flowed to foreign markets. Mercurius and Salutius going on a selling spree in the realm of Lir. Mercurius thought of the Balnan¡¯s once again. Thinking of his vengeance he would perpetrate on them. He teleported to the mountains of Balna, looking at the sight before him, before he then he went back to Gharb. ¡°What were you doing? Where were you?¡± Salutius asked. ¡°Balna,¡± Mercurius answered honestly, ¡°I was thinking of repaying some debts.¡± ¡°Balna will pay,¡± Salutius said resolutely, ¡°but don¡¯t do anything stupid, we should deal with Poltu first, they have still have two very important cities.¡± ¡°Polt and Wersh are important sure, but our old business is not something we should forget,¡± Mercurius said. Salutius began freeing slaves in Polt, a city of some 200,000, while Mercurius began focusing on the peripheries of Gharb. A temple in Gharb immediately began constructionas well as arming the populace for the inevitable counter attack. Forts nearby were taken by the mercenary army and the tribesmen, slowly peeling them off one by one. Villages were bribed, slaves were freed, and peasants were given massive donations of food and supplies in order to buy their loyalty. Slavers once again ran away, and local Church of Light sympathisers despaired at the sight of another important city under the control of some pagan entity. Some forts along the Yerek Poltu border were abandoned at the news of the taking of Gharb and the defeat of Karim. Karim rode as hard as he could to Poltu, but now he was nothing, he had no fief, no soldiers, no money and of course most importantly for him no women. Karim tried to raise rural retinues, but news travelled fast. ¡°These lands belong to Ahmed now,¡± the local chief of the village said, ¡°you gambled and lost.¡± Karim was silently angry, he was angrier that the chief was right. He had gambled and lost, Gharb now belonged to Yerek. Poltu trembled, the news of the fall of the city terrifying nobility and the Church of Light to no end. A true war would soon begin. 21. Jostling 21. Jostling Ahmed had hired his marshal Isa to command troops to take back Gharb, battling over small settlements in the environs. Hamlets, villages and towns were fought over in a tug of war. Isa had 10,000 cavalry, and he rode through town to town attempting to shore up support, meanwhile Salutius was already sowing dissent in Poltu. Mercurius was buying the support of peasants. ¡°We can give you tonnes of food,¡± Mercurius said. ¡°Ah but then, what is the point of working the land,¡± a man said, ¡°I¡¯ve heard about the economy of Yerek. If 6 people can grow all the food you need, what do the peasants do huh?¡± Mercurius looked at the smart fellow with a bit of fear, for he was a better rhetorician than he was. ¡°Rest, do something else with their time. Nothing is dumber than useless work,¡± Mercurius said, wincing as he said it, for he may have made ten enemies. ¡°I accept your answer,¡± the peasant said, ¡°I hear you solved the problem by building temples, what about afterwards?¡± ¡°Science,¡± Mercurius postulated. ¡°Science?¡± The peasant said, ¡°you want me to make inventions?¡± ¡°Is that a bad thing?¡± Mercurius said. He came back with free flour, corn and bucket loads of water. An evangel of water filled the wells. ¡°Production and processing is still necessary I suppose,¡± the peasant thought aloud. Mercurius visited Balna, going to the mountains where he followed a playbook similar to the one he had perfected on Moru. Buying support of the rural peasantry, providing food and water, and limited coin before delivering some marble. ¡°The God of Trade is wise and generous,¡± Mercurius said. ¡°I¡¯m sure he is,¡± a mountain peasant of Balna said, ¡°but why are you here?¡± ¡°To spread our religion,¡± Mercurius said, and to get revenge. He did what he was supposed to and helped the environs of Gharb, but he also visited Balna, and went to Zhong collecting their coin so that he could build a series of temples. In the hills of Balna, tribes were being mobilised. On the Uruq side of the mountainous border remote villages were visited and given statues to the God of Trade and then heavily bribed. This little pet mission allowed Isa to seize village after village before arriving near Gharb. The land was lush around Gharb, oases and irrigation created fertile valleys, it didn''t extend too far beyond for there was sand like everywhere else, but there were aquifers and underground rivers that could be used for farming. Isa fed his horses and camels fodder before sending a messenger away. Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.¡°I need information on whether it¡¯s ok to attack Gharb yet,¡± Isa said. A regal figure, a mere marshal of a king he was something akin to a steward, his only real power was what the king vested in him; he had blue eyes and dark hair, and had a lean figure, not too tall but not short either. He had a quick team for taking small villages but was soon met with a proper obstacle. A former military outpost was now manned by newly recruited Yerek crossbowmen. A stone watch tower and small skirting walls, it had a maximum of 400 men. Local villagers staffed it and it would be a pain in Isa¡¯s plans if it were kept. ¡°We can¡¯t begin sieging anything with that watch tower, look how they flaunt us with that idolatrous flags,¡± a soldier grumbled to Isa. He looked at the tricolour and then looked at the local peasants. ¡°These ones are much more hostile to us then the other ones,¡± Isa noted, ¡°prepare to crush some polytheist scum.¡± Meanwhile Mercurius rejoined his efforts back on the eastern border. Bribing people who had just been visited by Isa¡¯s men. ¡°We just had an army of the faithful march through here!¡± An old crone said, ¡°it really is incumbent on you to protect us from them if you wish us to take you seriously.¡± ¡°We will bring crossbows and build fortifications, plus all the bribes that we are famous for,¡± Mercurius explained. ¡°Well¡­¡± the old crone said. She looked at her local peasant neighbours and sighed. While Mercurius was putting himself on too many fronts, Nichomachus hired more and more tribes. The promise of food and water for many of these people, immediately gathered thousands of loyal warriors. Nichomachus made two large camps, foundations for new cities, Kostor near the Poltu border, and Tolra much further to the west. The two camps were supplied with food and water and became foundations for cities. Camels, sheep, horses glugged water hungrily. There were ten evangels to the God of Water and Farming, one each was stationed in each of these new cities, Nichomacus making a staunch argument in favour of it. ¡°These will be permanent bases recruiting the tribes from the south, their cavalry will be indefensible for the Republic, for Yerek, for the God of Trade, Water and Farming.¡± ¡°Can we spare the resources?¡± Zelra asked cautiously. You have 10 in Hiru, what is this woman prattling about. ¡°Of course we can, they will make many followers, and expand our influence southwards, I hear there is a nation called Kanem to the south, far to the south, beyond the sand, and the tribes,¡± Nichomachus explained, ¡°we need two cities, they will help in our war, I know they will.¡± ¡°Will it house their pastoralist flocks?¡± Mardonius wandered aloud. ¡°It will, these people make their living off of their herds, besides it is their skill with camels and horses that we want,¡± Nichomachus said, ¡°they are a treasure, and we should cultivate them.¡± And he did as much. Nichomachus the evangels¡¯ of God of Water and Farming, one of each irrigated and created fodder for the large fleeing refugees. Rather than turning them into enemies, their generosity so overwhelming that they could be used for the stated goals of the Republic. ¡°You have enemies, your enemies are our enemies, for Yerek, the Republic and for the three,¡± a gruff tribesman said resolutely. 4000 more cavalry were recruited and sent eastwards to take the southern porous borders of Poltu. Nichomachus then went to the southern tribes beyond the borders. There he found tribes without food, but an unresponsive unhelpful Poltu. He bribed them as well, realising he no longer had to focus on the tribes in Kostor or Tolra who were now self sufficient. These nomadic communities accepted free water and food with great enthusiasm taking up the banner of Yerek provided they were enumerated sufficiently. Far beyond the border with Poltu villages fell, and the southern porous borders were being taken. Mercurius¡¯s inactivity was now balanced by Nichomacus¡¯s, who had successfully converted huge portions of hungry tribes to the cause and preyed on the southern regions of Poltu. The war however was about to get much worse. 22. Battles in the Countryside 22. Battles in the Countryside Isa had received 10,000 infantry support, Mercurius had come back and realised his error, much of the hinterlands had not fortified in order to stop the Poltu counter attack. Worse still, the Church of Light kingdom of Amoreb had sent a 15,000 expeditionary army, Hitara had likewise sent 15,000, promising to send another 15,000 which they would recruit. Lir was in the process of mobilising 50,000. The Republic of Yerek was about to encounter its first real test. Poltu already had a formidable army, amassing 14,000 under another formidable commander named Omar. These armies were no joke, and Nichomachus¡¯s investment in tribal loyalty suddenly played huge dividends. The south of Poltu was wrought asunder, thousands of small villages changing hands. 8000 camel warriors took village after village after village. The central government of Poltu sent Omar south, he had 10,000 infantry and 4000 horse. Other cavalry allies took villages and border forts of Poltu¡¯s that Isa had recently captured. 5000 cavalry made into small raiding parties. Even Salutius who was doing work in Polt freeing the slaves and feeing the poor heard the rumour mongering within the city. ¡°Yerek cavalry have captured many southern and western villages, will Isa be alright?¡± A woman said to her husband. ¡°Those foul beasts captured Gharb.¡± In other quarters, ex slaves and recently bribed talked quite differently. ¡°Evangel, is it true?¡± One ex slave said, ¡°the God of Trade will it truly liberate Polt?¡± ¡°We have an agent who has been talking to pastoralist communities, he has clearly done a very good job. But it will be you, not them that will take Polt.¡± ¡°They can help though right?¡± ¡°I guess,¡± Salutius said, ¡°but the three have never conquered cities, we make them revolt.¡± ¡°I heard of this, is that really true?¡± The ex slave asked, ¡°many rumours are said of your religion, my former master hated it.¡± ¡°You will be witness to it.¡± The streets were filled with sedition, but many of the more respectable places were still quite loyal to Polt. It was the seat of Polt¡¯s government after all, but nonetheless secret police were out and about eavesdropping on public opinion. Salutius bribed more and more, until some 30,000 slaves had been freed. Agents of the state smacked dissidents, only for dissidents to smack back. This disorder caused the Polt government to set 10,000 soldiers into the streets. The ex slaves disappeared into their new residences, advised to not cause trouble as Salutius continued drumming up support for the Yerek cause. Nichomachus spent an afternoon arming and feeding scattered villages in the southern peripheries; Mercurius spent his afternoon feeding and arming the western hinterlands. Mercurius began organising peasants behind Isa¡¯s lines, peasants armed with crossbows and quickly establishing small fortifications. Isa had begun his siege of the small fortification. ¡°Take them out, and Gharb will be takable!¡± He screamed, ¡°for God! For Light! For Victory!¡± His armed roared, and charged the small tower and the skirting walls. Isa¡¯s men put ladders and tried to come up, hearing clicks that hit them and knocked them over. The tower wasn¡¯t isolated as Isa thought, peasants came up behind shooting at his rear. Church of Light priests shot those peasants down. This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.¡°Hit the main tower!¡± He shouted. He was right to do so, casualties lessened, as suppressing fire made it impossible for the garrison to shoot from up top. When things looked hopeless for the garrison, horse archers began peppering Isa¡¯s flanks. ¡°Take the fort!¡± A whistle was blown, the garrison that could flee did so, running from the positions. Fireballs were thrown at the cavalry that artfully dodged, crossbowmen shot at the priests of the Church of Light. Isa put his hand in the air signalling his archers to fire suppressing fire. 10,000 infantry of which 2000 were missile troops that could shoot into the fortification with all their might. ¡°Capture the keep!¡± Isa shouted. ¡°It seems our peasant allies are being besieged by a proper army,¡± one of the tribal chiefs said. Isa¡¯s cavalry came charging, Yerek¡¯s cavalry hit it head on with camels. Camels scared horses, and even Poltu cavalry knew this. ¡°These crazy,¡± one man said, moments before being gutted by a spear. More whistles were heard, crossbowmen aiming precisely for Isa¡¯s cavalry squadrons. Horse archers wheeled about aiming for the Church of Light priests. Isa wore a frown. ¡°Bombard position!¡± The head of the priest squadron said. They throw the fireballs in a loop instead of straight on, aiming for the crossbowmen in the keep, or what was left of them. Moments later, after the flames settled Poltu¡¯s flag was raised over the castle, arguably due to Mercurius¡¯s foolish overextension of priorities. Still Yerek¡¯s cavalry smashed into Isa¡¯s cavalry aided by well directed crossbow fire. ¡°Disengage! Disengage!¡± One cavalrymen shouted. The officer was assassinated by a crossbow bolt before Isa was confronted by even more craziness. A rider armed with an axe bolted straight for him. ¡°Is he insane?¡± One guard said, eying the man directly, echoing the thoughts of many. A hatchet came flying across the battlefield taking a head of Isa¡¯s bodyguard unit, before another was felled. He rode on a camel and took down more and more without being stopped. The Church of Light shot a bunch of fireballs, but he was too quick, already outrunning the fireballs smacking his iron on Isa¡¯s bodyguard. They grunted and heaved at the piercing metal, not noticing 500 other riders having done the exact same thing. ¡°Infantry on the commander!¡± Isa¡¯s lieutenants kept shouting. They killed the lunatic with the axe, but they were all bloody and sweaty and disorientated. 5000 militia armed with crossbows had snuck up behind and began shooting with deadly intensity. ¡°How?¡± A soldier said. ¡°Shields up!¡± A man said, before blood gurgled in his throat. The cavalry sent to deal with 2000 camel riders was taken down, the horses themselves terrified of the smell of the camels. Isa survived, he was waving a sword around and slashing at those who intended to kill him. His Church of Light priests had been mauled, one camel rider slicing them rather grimly. ¡°Protect the faithful!¡± Isa screamed, ¡°kill those scum!¡± The rider was turned to ashes, but infantrymen were falling around him. Camels were supposed to have been surrounded, but instead had punctured through routing a large section of cavalry that had been subjected to brutal punishment. Isa still had enough infantry and Church of Light priests to scare off the attackers. And he did. The camels back with only 1000 riders, but they had bloodied some 8000 of Isa¡¯s cavalry. He had captured the tower had worked so hard for, but he had casualties to deal with, and was now sure of a hostile rear. Meanwhile all the time, horse archers waited. Night time fell, general Omar had a much different experience. His 14,000 army marched southwards to hostile territory. Barricades were formed and the clicking sound of crossbows immediately precipitated a battle. Many lieutenants of Omar¡¯s were taken out. He sent 2000 cavalry to try and envelop them, but 8000 camel warriors annihilated the cavalry in short order. Some of the camels were even clad in armour, the Poltu army waited, trying to storm the barricades of the village of Hirith. A small valley village that had been made infinitely more prosperous thanks to Nichomachus, camels thundered on both flanks and while the peasants shot at the distracted army camel warriors crunched from both sides. 2000 of the camels were clad heavily, but that was more than enough against Omar¡¯s thinly armoured troops. The tribal leader Utbah successfully annihilated the army, cracking its morale after 2000 infantry deaths, the rest scattering for the winds. Omar death by a spear precipitating a rout. Utbah stared at the brevity before him. Like cracking an egg. Nichomachus paid respect to the cavalry leader feeding his fodder and fed and water any peasant, Omar¡¯s baggage train was divvied up between the peasants and the crossbowmen. Food, water and even Poltu coin were quickly pilfered, but not before being equally split between the various fighters. Even with such a victory, it was only the beginning. 23. The Coalition Arrives 23. The Coalition Arrives The Church of Light expeditionary army was led by a certain Mansur of Amoreb. A light blue flag with a golden flame marched across Wersh. ¡°How lovely it is to see you Mansur,¡± the governor of Wersh said, ¡°we were expecting you.¡± Mansur was a tall tanned man with brown eyes and brown hair, not too dissimilar from Utbah. Commanding 5000 cavalry and 10,000 infantry as well as some 200 church of light priests as well as a baggage train for supplies. ¡°We will refill your supplies, for as long as you need them,¡± the governor said rather obsequiously. ¡°Right?¡± Mansur said, side eying him, and looking behind to his troops. A spy immediately grovelled at Mansur¡¯s feet. ¡°The situation is terrible, general Omar was beaten in the field, Isa is left in the west, but you must rescue him before things get bad.¡± ¡°Isa is trapped?¡± Mansur asked, cocking his head in a questioning tone, ¡°these Yerek have really bludgeoned you huh?¡± ¡°Commander, remember you are a guest in their lands,¡± a lieutenant said. ¡°These fools are losing to polytheists,¡± Mansur said. ¡°Those polytheists have already couped a kingdom, let¡¯s not be too presumptuous here Mansur,¡± Mansur slapped the lieutenant with his gauntleted hand. The man in question played it off, as it hit the back of his head. Cunt. Man¡¯s going to get us all killed. Nichomachus occasionally assisted Salutius in his efforts. A whole day had passed since the annihilation of Omar¡¯s army, and the urban poor received more food and flour than every before. With each new load of believers the production process of the Republic became even more impressive. It started in the evening, but ex slaves managed to beat up the secret police, urban poor and even shop keepers arresting the soldiers in their barracks. The extra security detail would be shown up by an unlikely ally. Utbah had waltzed straight in, his camels led straight in by rebels who had taken over some gatehouses. There was chaos in the streets as the tricolour began appearing over gatehouse after gatehouse. The year of 570 had become a momentous one, and yet it was only the summer of the year. Utbah who was supposed to reinforce the revolt of Polt, marched in, and then marched out. He had hired 1000 camel mercenaries and left the city to the confusion of all loyal to the Republic. The port and the royal palace were still in control of Polt¡¯s authorities, while most of the city walls and the population centres were under control of Yerek and ¡®the three.¡¯ ¡°Glory to the Republic!¡± Nichomachus shouted, ¡°we will liberate Polt from the tyranny of the King and his lackeys!¡± Where in the fuck did you go Utbah? Utbah was wearing desert protective gear, but he had dark features, tanned skin, dark eyes and black hair, he gelled it with a gel, shaving his beard meticulously, much of his army had beards, but he did not keep to the tradition. He rode out of Polt, gathering any information.A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. ¡°Has Nichomachus established friendly contacts eastwards?¡± He asked. ¡°I¡¯m not sure,¡± a camel rider next to him asked. ¡°We go south then, go to a friendly village and then strike them where they least expect it.¡± I know you¡¯re coming you fiends. I know it, you know, we all know it. While Utbah left 15,000 Uruq soldiers reinforced the port, their fleet docking and reinforcing the situation for Ahmed. The King of Poltu would now be a puppet for foreign powers, swamped by foreign troops. Wersh had become a supply dump for the foreign expeditionary armies, after Mansur came an army from Jira numbering some 30,000 commanded by Marwan. He had heard of the war that Yerek had waged on Poltu, having already taken Gharb and Polt itself was not teetering, they had already amassed their army to take back Moru. ¡°Send the scouts forward, we need to liberate Poltu from these filthy savages!¡± Marwan commanded 10,000 camel riders and 20,000 infantry, a sizeable force to be sure, and one that the Church of Light hoped would stave and contain the revolution that had been spreading. Mercurius and Salutius got to supplying Polt insurgents with crossbows, endlessly bringing in supplies. Perhaps 100,000 of the residents were on the side of Yerek, with 50,000 still siding with the Church of Light regime. The palace walls were guarded furiously, battles in some streets seemingly continuous. ¡°We can¡¯t bribe the harbour as it is crawling with Uruq troops now, it seems we are not facing Poltu, we are facing all the Church of Light countries,¡± Salutius said, ¡°I do not wish to bring slaughter to the residents of Polt.¡± ¡°Shaking off these armies will not be so simple,¡± Mercurius said. Offered free coffees by a local coffee house, they were nonetheless bringing precious resources to the districts loyal to the Republic. Uruq¡¯s troops tried to advance, moving into crossbow bolt barrages, some Church of Light priests getting frustrated and shooting fireballs. The commander of the Uruq detachments was shot dead, and his men were beset with an angry mob, which shot him so relentlessly that he retreated back into the protection of the harbour city walls. ¡°I can open the gates,¡± Mercurius said, ¡°but the harbour is likely still full of their troops.¡± 1000 men had been shot to death, with only 100 residents dead, such casualties filled the revolutionaries with confidence. ¡°What was Utbah up to?¡± Salutius wondered aloud, ¡°Nichomachus said he was hiring tribal cavalry, does he even care about Yerek?¡± ¡°He does,¡± Nichomachus said, ¡°he is, respectfully, a better commander than you two, no doubt you have founded a nation, and instigated revolution. He excels in mobile warfare, and unrestricted by baggage trains, he will do things no one expects.¡± ¡°Oh?¡± Mercurius said in surprise, ¡°I can¡¯t wait to see what that is.¡± Mansur had marched out of Wersh toward Polt, taking the coastal road, he was in fact not that far from the capital of Poltu; the desert winds restricted vision much to the detriment of Mansur who assumed everything was normal. ¡°Have our scouts spotted anything?¡± Mansur said, ¡°No sir, there are villages hailing the Yerek flag, but they are deeper in the interior.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t say that disgusting name,¡± Mansur spat. His flag fluttered beautifully in the wind, but from the east not the west came his foe. Utbah used his light camels to smash into the Church of Light priests first, his 3000 heavy camels, 1000 of which mercenaries smashed in mere moments later. The cavalry outright panicked and ran, the momentum of the heavy camels, the smell, and the surprise making horses bolt out of the way. Most of the riders were killed, the mercenaries were tasked to mop up the infantry from the south, the marching infantry to disorganised to mount any kind of serious resistance. Mansur was slain mere moments later, the cavalry broke, the infantry broke, the mules and donkeys of the baggage train stopped at the sight of the army disintegrating. 1000 peasant crossbowmen soon began guiding captured prisoners of war, while Utbah began directing the captured loot. ¡°3000 gold pieces,¡± Utbah laughed. 2000 horse riders lay dead, 2000 infantrymen too, 6000 infantry had surrendered, with the remaining 2000 infantrymen running eastwards. ¡°Your commander¡¯s name?¡± One of the camel riders asked a captured soldier. ¡°Mansur of Amoreb,¡± the soldier said, desperately avoiding the blade at his neck. ¡°Amoreb huh?¡± Utbah said, nodding. They probably already functionally own Wersh. Some ¡®assistance¡¯ they must be. Wersh. It must be useful. Where can I get extra support. I¡¯ll have to talk to Nichomachus, he has to create more friendly territory for me. Although I suppose I can. Utbah was deep in thought, but he would make the Church of Light tremble with every step. 24. A Puppet 24. A Puppet Ahmed sat in his throne room, approached by various emissaries from various foreign countries. Hitara and Uruq had already arrived telling him of his need to subsume himself in the larger Church of Light polities. ¡°Forces from the Raja states are on their way as well,¡± the Hitaran general said, ¡°we will crush these disbelievers.¡± ¡°Mansur of Amoreb was defeated, as was Omar,¡± Ahmed muttered in disbelief and shock. Many of his administrators were taking orders from foreign kings. My rivals are all governing my kingdom like I am not here. They tell my generals what to do. I am losing authority rapidly. ¡°Wersh is so far in your hands sire,¡± the Hitaran general said, ¡°I hear Amoreb is trying to take good care of it, they already sent another general in.¡± My border security. Ahmed thought. His facial expression was not much better, clearly nervous. Clearly showing his anxiety and his lack of control. ¡°Our spies report that much of the countryside is owned by this ¡®Yerek,¡¯ they shoot with crossbows at anything that comes to their fortified villages. They seemed to be supplied quite well, so sieging them doesn¡¯t seem to work. And there are mobile cavalry units as you know.¡± ¡°Your highness, Isa is still alive and in position, albeit bloodied, he has 6000 maybe 7000 troops.¡± An Uruq officer bowed in front of Ahmed. ¡°Our general Ali is close and will relieve any siege on him, 15,000 men should be enough, should it not?¡± ¡°Of course sir,¡± the advisor said, ¡°your highness, much of Polt is under the Republic¡¯s control.¡± ¡°You¡¯re not just going to eat all our food are you?¡± Ahmed said directly to the generals¡¯ lounging in his palace. There they sat on his satin sofas, chatting with the palace women and servants. No one paid the slightest bit of notice to him. I have Wersh and I have Polt, this bit of it, my son Saif. Maybe he can do something. What can he do? What can I do? If Polt falls, the nation of Poltu will no more, they will not reestablish it. They will rule my lands instead. ¡°These sons of bitches should be paying us tribute, instead they have us supporting some king who barely controls his throne room!¡± A Hitaran commander said far too loudly. He was right, but it was not his place to say such things. Ahmed looked down to the floor, his precious floor that was being traipsed by hooligans and people of far lower station to him. Without them, I am not a king, and yet with them, how can I call myself a king? ¡°General, how many men can we still muster?¡± Ahmed said to his forces, not his allies. ¡°15,000 in the city sir, what do you want to do with them?¡± ¡°Keep them for now,¡± Ahmed said, I need to conserve my forces. Thankfully I don¡¯t belong to any one nation, I can use the Hitaran¡¯s against the Jiran¡¯s, Uruq against those two. Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon. Ahmed looked around and a bedraggled figure came in. ¡°Former emir of Gharb sir,¡± an advisor felt like he had to introduce the figure. The man prostrated before the king. ¡°To what do I owe the pleasure?¡± Ahmed laughed. Karim looked at his liege, the man he had conspired to overthrow merely a week ago. A man as powerless as him. Karim looked at the various foreign military dignitaries who paid absolutely no respect to Ahmed. ¡°I have returned from my humiliation,¡± Karim said, ¡°how are you going to deal with this situation?¡± He asked quietly. ¡°I am going to use them for what they¡¯re worth, and then I am going to wait for what is possible.¡± ¡°The Church of Light countries have indeed sent considerable armies, but Poltu doesn¡¯t exist¡­¡± Ahmed seethed. ¡°I will go to Wersh, and try to stabilise the situation for you,¡± ¡°The governor there has effectively become an Amoreb vassal, I don¡¯t even think he corresponds with you anymore,¡± Karim said. ¡°And you plan to get rid of him how?¡± Ahmed said. ¡°Right¡­¡± Karim said despondently. This fucker doesn¡¯t even have a plan. Both men thought of each other. There was a balcony overlooking the palace guard that Ahmed retreated to, his throne room he left a guard and Karim to guard. ¡°Don¡¯t let these generals claim it, I have enough problems,¡± Ahmed sighed. He went and looked at the plaza where his troops might parade especially for him. Instead there were Uruq troops doing drills, their light green flag with a golden flame littering the air above them. Do I even have a country anymore? While Ahmed dealt with existential issues, Isa had hunkered down, Utbah terrorised the east, a cavalry commander of the west named Gisco had Isa pinned to his fortress. Ali marched with 15,000 infantry, surmounting a peasant fortress on the way, burning the structure with Church of Light priests. Gisco saw the carnage from afar. Organising his now armoured cavalry and horse archers. He had sent his camels away, to the east, to a more able commander of the beasts. ¡°That is Uruq troops,¡± Gisco said, ¡°I am hardly a flag expert, I know the Uruq flag when I see it, they are going to relieve Isa.¡± Gisco sent 3000 horse archers to pelt the besieged before relieving the village that was being bombarded. Isa blew horns, and Uruq troops began playing drums to signal their troops to move into position. ¡°Look at this puppet kingdom, it doesn¡¯t even use its own troops anymore!¡± Gisco said. A tanned man with green eyes, he stood out as a commander. Riding his heavy cavalry he tried to hide his movements the best he could. His heavy cavalry appeared behind the Church of Light priests, intending to slaughter them, but the Uruq infantry protected them with spears. Missile cavalry disrupted them and whittled down the Church of Light priests who had only managed to torch some village. ¡°They¡¯re all dead sir,¡± a horse archer said. ¡°For this community of peasants, we will make an example of these Uruq savages. Leave none of them alive!¡± He had another 2000 horse archers who rode behind the Uruq line and began shooting. The spearmen were easy pickings. ¡°Withdraw the heavy cavalry!¡± He shouted. Ali the commander was hit in the head with an arrow, and the Uruq army intended to maintain cohesion with capable lieutenants, but the horse archers targeted them. ¡°Break them,¡± Mago said, clasping his hand in an appropriate motion. Horsemen clad in armour with axes and and maces finally smashed into the Uruq army shattering any semblance of morale. ¡°Hunt these men like geese!¡± A horse archer lieutenant said. Isa watched from his castle as the Uruq troops were hunted, and his relief army was scatted in the wind. He then looked to sea, to see the flag of Uruq flying on a warship. Mago watched the fleet dock, and the disembarking fleet streaming next to the castle and capturing the local coastal village largely without a fight. Mago had just delivered a slaughter of some 15,000 troops, but he watched just behind him, credible reports of some 20,000 happily replacing the men he had just beaten. Oi, oi, you can¡¯t be serious can you? Poltu might not really be a kingdom anymore, but this is absurd. Can Utbah and I really be expected to defeat these field armies? I beat one, and another one just appears me behind me. Nonetheless Mago continued picking off Ali¡¯s army, chasing it all the way to several coastal villages, advising his men to not get too carried away on the hunt, for while they were hunting stragglers they would become vulnerable. Retreating back into friendly territory, where Nichomachus had arranged for infinite supplies for their horses and for their men. More armies were coming and it became clear that the Church of Light was by no means beaten. 25. Surprise 25. Surprise Ahmed¡¯s spies, what little of them remained, relayed to him the defeat of the Uruq army, and the arrival of another. General Marwan¡¯s march, and the news that even armies from the Raja states were going to arrive within a month. 3000 of Gisco¡¯s camels had now come to Utbah, who used them to reinforce his army to 12,000. Fully watered and fed within the confines of Nichomachus¡¯s ingenious southern desert strategy, buying the loyalty of countless villages with endless food and water. Nichomachus inspired by his success in the south with Tolra and Kostor, the two cities founded on catering to the nomad population, he decided he would another, this time on the Poltu side of the border; the new city of Gatula had its own resident evangel to the God of Water and Farming, providing water and food to the local nomadic population. With so many converts, providing another evangel was not difficult at all, and provided even more loyalty to the various pastoralist peoples of the area. Horses, camels and livestock of all kinds were taken to this newfound oasis. Many oases further south having dried up, this new permanent one was a boon, the new faith grew rapidly and cemented loyalty, and with that came recruits for Gisco and Utbah. Four days had passed, and Ahmed heard the news that the governor of Wersh: Yezid, had in fact for all intents and purposes defected to Amoreb. Amoreb flags flew over his administrative centres, even the tribes that cemented Poltu control quickly switched allegiances to the neighbouring power. Ahmed read letter after letter of his spies, clasping his head in worry. A middle aged man, he had no idea what to do. Still other Church of Light generals traipsed around his palace halls. In the past sandwiched between two Church of Light countries, our conflicts happened but were marginal, one had to forge claims to territory, and now with this new threat, this God of Trade,my neighbours openly steal my lands. Nichomachus extended his operations to the Wersh region, but they were quite openly pro Amoreb, some men even trying to attack Nichomachus for offering gifts. To think they would resist bribes so forcefully. It would be Utbah with 12,000 men who would face Marwan¡¯s army from Jira. It was said that Jira was where the Church of Light emanated from, destroying Byz¡¯s control of the east, and slowly taxing the Church of Truth¡¯s followers into converting. Their army had come to assist the faithful in purging this infidel threat, their army was massive. Utbah sent emissaries to some of the tribes of Wersh, and they told them quite openly what their objection to Yerek was. ¡°You cannot beat the Church of Light, sure, you have had your successes, no doubt, but there are armies are boundless,¡± the tribal elder said, ¡°you will be beaten, and for what then would we rise up against them?¡± ¡°So if we beat them in battle you will join us?¡± Utbah said brazenly, brown eyes opening in excitement, ¡°I already have you know?¡± ¡°More will come, we are right here on the border, from Yasir and Isra they will send more armies, and more armies after that,¡± the elder explained, ¡°Wersh will be a protectorate of Amoreb.¡±If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. Utbah could not talk to them anymore, he and his emissaries left the hostile villages and went to seek out battle, to seek out a settlement with these doubting tribes. To cover them in plate, and to get tired quickly, or to don no armour arrive and then be easy to kill. This question has no easy answer. Utbah thought. Marwan was marching along the coastal road, the hostile tribes sent messages to Wersh and to the Church of Light cause, but no one expected Utbah¡¯s actions. He arrived fully clad in armour, and his soldiers 12,000 would arrive from the desert some two days later, only the scouts were not covered in plate, patrolling on the flanks and ahead to find the enemy. ¡°They are not too far from here,¡± one of Utbah¡¯s spies informed him. ¡°We must paralyse their camel riders, that¡¯s what I¡¯m most afraid of. The rest we can chew down on, we will kill their momentum.¡± Utbah looked with his brown eyes at his army, a likewise swarthy group of people. Thank you Gisco for the camels, I will send you some horse when I get the chance. He grinned, thinking of the western commander. ¡°Our goal is to shatter them! Today Marwan discovers our resolve!¡± He said, clasping one fist in an open gauntleted fist. Camel knights cantered across the battlefield, enemy scouts whistled in desperation, but they were too late, Utbah had arrived. Taking the front out in an initial charge, the enemy camels were lightly armoured to Utbah¡¯s delight. The Church of Light priests were caught in the charge, and theability of spearmen to react was far, far too late. 2000 enemy camel riders were dead, the rest not faring too much better, their lances having nowhere to manoeuvre and were quickly swatted down by heavy maces that smashed the bones of the attacked. Marwan like Omar and Mansur before him tried to organise his infantry, unlike the earlier commanders he had retreated to his infantry he attempted to rally, but Utbah really was coming for the mobile units that could chase him. It would take 15 minutes, but Marwan¡¯s cavalry were totally destroyed, Utbah¡¯s men suffering 500 casualties. Some 3000 infantry had died. The rest were forming up, but Utbah smashed into them too. The result was a maw, for Utbah¡¯s men got the better of Marwan¡¯s but there were some casualties to compensate for charging into spears. Marwan had managed to retreat, but his army bereft of leadership was slaughtered. Perhaps 1000 men had managed to sneak away, Jira¡¯s black banners with golden flames littered the battlefield. Some men covered in the uniform, adorned in crimson, the black was blacker now, the dead were put out of their miseries by blade, and unfortunate ones were feasted on by the carrion bird. The squawking echoing across the battlefield. ¡°2000 dead sir,¡± one of Utbah¡¯s lieutenants said, ¡°given our adversaries.¡± ¡°We did well,¡± Utbah completed the man¡¯s sentence, he wore a pained look, ¡°but how many more victories can we win like that? If it is true what those tribesmen say, one day we will have no one left to win victory.¡± ¡°The Church of Light can¡¯t intimidate people with numbers alone,¡± his lieutenant assured him, ¡°the God of Trade had only three followers, and yet look at it now.¡± ¡°They could say the same could they not?¡± ¡°Their prophet killed people to establish his religion, our evangels fed them, traded with the world,¡± the man said, ¡°these two things are not the same.¡± ¡°We fight for him now,¡± Utbah said, ¡°so we are not too different from their prophet.¡± ¡°Humanity is cursed with violence,¡± the lieutenant said, ¡°we defend the Republic.¡± ¡°We fight for the Republic,¡± Utbah said, ¡°no doubt it brings great prosperity to our people. But it is a hefty burden.¡± ¡°Utbah, your name will be spoken with the likes of Mercurius, no doubt.¡± I wonder about that. Utbah flicked the blood off his mace. Then took his helmet off. Then he addressed his army. ¡°Today we have won a great victory! Jira has lost. The Church of Light can send all the armies they wish, we will crush them! We will secure Yerek. For the Republic! For the Three!¡± His words resonated with his men, who immediately cheered, their cries reverberating across the battlefield. They went southwards, and were immediately met with reinforcements. 26. Highwayman 26. Highwayman Utbah met with his reinforcements, some 4000 camel riders who praised the winner of so many victories. He rode to friendly villages just shy of the Wersh province, there friendly villagers gave supplies to the general and his troops. Although he had looted much of Marwan¡¯s baggage train, using the coin to purchase friends in the Wersh province. He decided to nonetheless locate himself in a place where he would be among friends. ¡°Are you going to march on Wersh?¡± The lieutenant bringing the reinforcements asked. ¡°Our task is to destroy mobile armies,¡± Utbah said, ¡°Yerek does not conquer, it liberates,¡± he said simply, ¡°that being said, every army that has passed by land has to come through Yerek.¡± The lieutenant simply stared at Utbah, the words were more of a verbal thought than an actual answer to the question. So will you? Came as a question to everyone. Utbah had no answer, if he marched and took Wersh, he would be in a hostile city, baggage trains would be necessary, and the Church of Light priests could ambush him with devastating fireballs. ¡°Their priests are warriors, ours are not,¡± Utbah said, ¡°taking a town not loyal to us, is going to be problematic for many reasons. Nichomachus is doing a good job, we should rest.¡± He did rest for about a week, hearing of reports from local villages of an another Amoreb army. The commander was a man named Ibrahim who had heard of the fates of other armies and was extremely cautious. Utbah noted the 2000 cavalry that screened in all directions and the infantry that was clumped up, ready to bounce into formation. ¡°Man did his homework!¡± A lieutenant joked. ¡°This means more people might die,¡± Utbah said turning seriously to his officer, ¡°but yes, he did.¡± Utbah chased down the cavalry, his heavily clad camel warriors ignoring the missiles that were flying in their direction before utterly crunching into the infantry. They were fanned out, Utbah had positioned his camel units one behind the other, so that the momentum of a charge was always felt, what cavalry did get charged upon was immediately torn and destroyed, the infantry down below were smashed, their spears smashed into harmless sticks, the soldiers stomped by Utbah¡¯s elite unit. Utbah proceeded to annihilate the enemy infantry to a man, the cavalry scattered. The light blue flags of Amoreb standing as a testament to Utbah¡¯s might, as they were manned by no one, fluttering in the wind. ¡°Reconstitute!¡± Utbah shouted. They did so, for in the distance, an army of Hitara could be seen. 10,000 horse charged into 13,500 camels to a predictable result. Utbah utterly crushed them. The horses were scared of the camels, but also the more heavily clad units would beat weaker units. Again Utbah flicked blood off his mace. Looking before him, and sighing. He was left with 12,500, but his martial prowess scared all. The Republic was concerned Utbah would become a powerbroker of his own, with his own interests rather than that of the common good of Yerek. Nonetheless, no actions were taken against him, offering him all the logistical support he needed, but his fearsome reputation had many wondering what he would become. The Church of Light made scare stories, made him out to be a butcher, and his name began eliciting excited acclamations, the man who had crushed five armies and seemed to be just getting started. The road from Wersh to Polt was littered with the dead, albeit locals did try and tidy the carnage left behind. Utbah yet again looted the pay of the dead, he found a baggage train not far behind, dedicating some local villagers to taking the coins and depositing them for him. In the east, in the Wersh province he hired some 2000 mercenaries, his fame alone making local villages give him better treatment. Nichomachus exploited the changing feelings and began bribing the locals with food and water in the true God of Trade style. Villages were inundated with goods, and the Wersh province¡¯s hinterlands became not so loyal to the Church of Light. Gatula¡¯s success had inspired southern villages especially to openly fly the tricolour of the Republic, and suddenly Utbah had a base of operations even closer to Amoreb.Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site. The news that the Republic dreaded, four days after stunning victories, 50,000 troops under the command of Lir had arrived. There a white flag with a golden flame was paraded by soldiers. Theymarched on Wersh city, stunning the locals into a silenced awe. ¡°Surely the Republic can¡¯t beat this one¡­¡± a man whispered. The Republic is finished now. Was a thought many had. Utbah took it as a challenge, even the newly converted tribes now flew the flag of Amoreb and shooed the camel riders out of their villages. Utbah heard they had 20,000 cavalry, and 30,000 infantry, a formidable force on any day. Utbah went to a fortified village on the coastal road, fortified and armed with crossbowmen who waited the inevitable confrontation with the Lir army. 500 crossbowmen waited in their positions, while the enormous army came to the village that blocked their path. Relatively close to Wersh, it was a new addition to Yerek. Nichomachus, Mercurius and Salutius teleported some 1000 men into the settlement, beefing the numbers up to 1500, making murder holes in towers to stop the advance of such a monstrous army. The Lir cavalry fanned out, and their infantry charged the positions, from north, east and west, attempting to take the town¡¯s main entrances. The evangels to the God of Trade had created a strong garrison, who fired with great enthusiasm at the bodies of men approaching. Fire smashed into the towers by 500 Church of Light priests, the firepower causing the buildings to become embers. Cavalry were crushed by heavy camel riders; infantry stormed the fortifications. Their white banners soon seen over every building as they attempted to storm the stairwells. Utbah had destroyed the charges to the southern entrance of the town, opting to use the smokescreen to advance from the east into the Lir lines. Lir would not see him, until he appeared right under their noses. In normal circumstances, Lir troops could indeed flank these heavily clad beasts, but they plunged deep into the Lir lines, the general who was supposed to be observing the events was taken out in a swing of Utbah¡¯s mace. Fireballs began firing on their own troops, such deviousness was unprecedented, but it had its effect. Nonetheless Utbah continued pressing on, his mace hitting target after target after target. Utbah¡¯s men followed their commander¡¯s example, jumping into death. Fire killed many, Lir iron killed many more. The fortified crossbowmen were killed to a man, but Utbah fought a brave and stunning battle, having taken out the Lir commander out, the Lir army lost heart in many places. Lir cavalry had been the first to run, the infantry were not so lucky. Utbah leaped over burning carcasses, the camels snorted over the smoke, Utbah camel was killed and he fell to the floor, groaning as he did so. He rolled up and began hacking at the infantry all around him. His men continued their relentless assault, officer after officer fell, and with lack of information, the Lir army routed en-masse, this was then followed by the camels chasing them down. Utbah clubbed Lir soldier after Lir soldier, after many hours of relentless pursuit, Utbah gave up. He had been reduced to an army of merely 1500, however he had annihilated 10,000 cavalry and 25,000 infantry, bringing his fame Utbah to legendary levels. He was not jubilant, looking at the bloody sight with shock. Victory at such a price, is not victory at all. This is atrocious. I might as well die. He flicked the blood off his mace, and looked at the sight of the dead in the burning village. Bursting into tears. The smoke hid the commander, the dark battlefield descended into the darkness of night, where Utbah could assume the position of commander once again.