Starchaser: Beyond - Autumnhollow Chronicles - Interlude 3.9B - Bronson's Cauldrons and The Chief's Calendars at Chapelle's (Part 2)

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Interlude 3.9B

Bronson's Cauldrons and The Chief's Calendars at Chapelle's (Part 2)

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The Firing Range:

“Ermmm….” Cuddly murmured as he waved his wand in tandem with Siria’s spellcraft. The Sally Pot glowed and several more runes manifested onto it, runes that were once the lingua franca of a bygone age. Peanut led the spell, the little mushroom chanting as she read from Loreia’s spellbook while she traced intricate patterns with her own wand. The trio of mages molded their powers together to reawaken the ancient artifact that once defended a mighty empire. 

There was a snapping sound as small fragments of the Sally Pot spalled.

“Steady!” Siria said, although Peanut continued the chant unperturbed. Cuddly too was unmoved, continuing to flow into the Sally Pot his wild magic with matching determination. His fae harriers flitted about the pot, drawing the nearby [Ether] in measured amounts and converting them into [Mana] for the arcane vessel to absorb.

The pot was groaning, the metal threatening to shatter as it slowly began to warp.

“Don’t be afraid!” Siria called. “This damage is superficial! We can fix it later.”

As the mages continued to work on the pot, the CABBAGE mice, Connor, Abel, Byron, Bagley, Adam, Gren, and Eric, began their own last-minute preparations. Squeaking excitedly, the mice tightened the straps of their Genghis Khan armor and donned their helmets. A dull, thrumming sensation enveloped their heads for a brief moment as the “bubble shield” charms on their helmets activated, granting them a bubble-shaped forcefield commensurate with the armor on their heads. 

Finally, they put on their newest piece of equipment; the “Crystolith Shades” which blunted the bright rays of the sun shining on their faces. 

Noses wiggling in anticipation, the mice now looked over to the pulsating source of energy that was the Sally Pot.

“Let’s give it a try now…” Siria said as she, Peanut, and Cuddly began placing soulstones in it. Upon contact, the magical stones began to sublimate, the glowing mist flowing into the Sally Pot instead of wafting into the air.

“Hooray!” Peanut was, on a rare moment, standing on the ground instead of floating. She was jumping happily, Loreia’s magic book in her hand flapping as she happily hopped around. 

“Ready?” Siria asked, turning to the CABBAGE team. The mice squeaked and held up their heavy guns; heavily modified M-16’s with the additional attachments the rest of the 189 had. The only exception was Connor, who used a bullpup pellet gun. While it lacked the additional attachments, it allowed him to still hold onto his staff.

“Ermmm…” Cuddly began chewing on a miniature sweet radish as he waved the mice over. The fluffy rodents hurried to the Sally Pot as Siria held up the designated “Sally Club”. 

She had learned that the earthlings had called it a “boomerang” due to a similar throwing stick that possessed the peculiar ability to return to the thrower. Working with Philia’s directions, she had it carved at a certain angle and found it did fly back to her unerringly. She then spent a few hours last night improving the magic on the already-installed soulstones on the boomerangs to ensure they did return when thrown.

The elf’s arm became a blur as she hurled the Sally Club. It spun rapidly as it took flight, before halting in mid-air above a cluster of target dummies. 

“THWEET!” 

With a sharp blast from Connor’s whistle, the mice quickly leapt into the Sally Pot. 

Instead of the mice falling out of the mid-air rift in the order that they had leapt in, they reappeared as a cluster. 

Unlike the other mice, Connor’s pellet gun was tight against his body, still on his side. With his free paw, he made the motion of throwing a bladed weapon. At once, the double-ended sword  [Reaping Circle] erupted into existence in a flash of fairy sparks. The Deregor-crafted twin-blade followed the mice as they descended, spinning several times around the team and cutting down all the nearby training dummies before vanishing into motes of light.

At the same time, the rest of the Cabbage Team opened fire, unleashing the power of their underbarrel shotguns and shredding the dummies wholesale.

“THWEET!” 

The shrill call of Connor’s whistle signaled for the Cabbage mice’s marksmanship tests. All the dummies in a thirty-foot radium around the team had fallen and now the mice had switched to rifle shots. Firing in disciplined bursts, the mice were quickly squeaking to each other, calling out targets and taking them out as quickly as possible. As the targets thinned, the mice switched to pellet rounds.

“THWEET!” 

The next signal had the mice quickly tightening the slings on their heavy guns and drawing their pistols in one smooth motion. The mice advanced cautiously and evenly as they began firing in spaced shots at the next cluster of targets.

“THWEET!”

With a squeaky war-cry, Cabbage Team then charged the remaining cluster of dummies for their melee tests. Quickly holstering their pistols and tightening the slings of their rifles as they charged, they summoned their orihalcum glaives. The blades tore through the wooden dummies as if they were cardboard. Their polearms became a blur as they impaled and chopped at their targets. 

“THWEET!” 

The mice invoked the power of the [Wand of Duality] embedded into Ralph’s glaive to switch to the warhammer-like “crow’s beaks”. The serrated hammerheads splintered the wood while the long beaks dug deep into the timbers, allowing the mice to pull down one dummy while the others hammered away at it.

“THWEET!

Connor blew his whistle one last time and the mice unsummoned their weapons. With a satisfied squeak and a wave of his staff, the Cabbage mice vanished into a puff of green smoke and were once again standing near the pot.

“Yeees! Yes!” Peanut exclaimed, giggling as Siria cuddled the little mushroom. Their experiment was a success and Loreia’s Sally Pot was once again working. The two then started cuddling the mice, congratulating them on their excellent performance.

“Ermm…” Cuddly murmured, patting the happy mice as he commended their excellent teamwork and much-improved marksmanship. He held up a stopwatch and showed that the Cabbage mice had once again shaved off another minute from their weapons tests.

“Congratulations, Cabbage Team!” Neith beamed, speaking directly on the headsets, “Once again you’ve broken your previous record.”

The mice were squealing happily, jumping up and down in delight, prompting Siria to snuggle the leafy-green rodents.

“Excellent work everyone!” Ingrid laughed, seeing the cute cuddle pile of leafy-green mice. “Team, this is Bronson, on the radio he will be Char. As previously discussed, he will be working on rearguard with Onyx and during battles if needed, assisting Onyx in protecting the Center Group.”

“Roger!” Peanut squeaked happily, giggling as Ingrid ran forward to scoop her and Cuddly in her arm, nuzzling them affectionately.

“Ermmm…” Cuddly closed his eyes in bliss and nuzzled Ingrid back.

“Ooooh, you cute bunny you, love you! And you too Peanut! Smoochies for the best mushroom ever!”

Peanut was giggling at the ticklish sensation of being smooched by the human. Letting them go, Ingrid got to work cuddling the Cabbage mice, congratulating them on their improved performance.

“No problems?” Philia asked as she stooped over to inspect the Sally Pot, it looked cracked in a few places but it was superficial in nature. Ergo, if it were an ordinary pot it could still cook a stew without any of the gravy leaking out.

“Not really.” Siria yawned as she stretched, smiling as she saw the team’s fearless leader reduced to a cutely babbling house human fussing over the cute familiars. “We just need a good blacksmith to discreetly forge this-”

“Bvalinn.” Kinu and Kvaris chorused over the radio, everyone could hear the sounds of clinking dinnerware and animated conversation in some noble’s mansion somewhere in the city. 

“Agreed, he’s the best when it comes to heavy duty magic stuff like this.” Philia added. “How’s the negotiations coming?”

“We got the Duke of the Fork doling out a good deal for some of the wormhead bodies.” Kinu replied.

“Meaning?” Ingrid asked as she now cuddled Siria, who glomped her in return.

“The Fork refers to a fertile delta situated between the mighty rivers of the Iron River, the Silver Flow, and the Black Current.” Philia explained, petting the Cabbage mice one-by-one as she began parroting off her history lessons from her second childhood. “The Iron River and Silver Flow get their names due to many towns and cities there being abundant in either mining those metals or making products of said metals there, along with the raw material. The Black Current is frequently dredged for its mineral-rich soil for farming." 

"Oh, I get it!" Bronson said "This is a client who can afford to pay us big!"

"We get more than that, Char." Kvaris snickered, "With those worm-head bodies at The Fork. The academia will swarm there, bringing even more trade and wealth. This is just like His Majesty King Tulan is getting with the Lifebane Titan’s remains over at Freid.”

“In other words…” Kinu continued “We're not just being paid for carcasses now... we're getting extra gold and favors because we're going to make the Fork a lot richer."

"Damn you guys are good..." Bronson muttered. 

"We are Amaduscia's pups." the twins giggled.

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Ram Ranch Village:

Farlan’s new office as well as Ram Ranch’s Town Hall was a recent construction. At its core was a solid frame of whole tree trunks, massive and sturdy, set firmly on a foundation of solid limestone. The ground floor’s load-bearing walls were of interlocking mortared stones, while the upper floors’ walls were of wattle-and-daub. Both of which were uniformly plastered, then further dressed with a coat of paint to give the stone and daub a monolithic look. In contrast, the wood was richly varnished to protect it from the elements while highlighting the beauty of the iron-like timber.

Built in the tradition of Farlan’s homeland, the steep roof extended generously outwards, covering a balcony of considerable width that ran along all sides of the manor without interruption, which in turn served as an awning for a narrower veranda that encircled the ground floor. Swaying gently in the breeze between the posts that held up the balcony were roll-up wooden blinds that shielded the occupants from the glare of the sun.

It was in the culture of the vulpei's homeland that a dwelling should be surrounded by a section straddling the realms of the inside and outside world, a fact that inspired Philia to have the town hall built in this manner to reflect the Town Hall's function.

Deig's tongue was lolling as he looked at the manor-like house. He too came from the same homeland as the vulpei.

The double doors of the town hall hung open, inside was a modestly spacious vestibule dominated by a staircase leading up to the second floor. The chamber's decorations were more spartan and functional, given the village's fledgling state. A few chalk- and bulletin-boards mounted on the walls held up various notices and reminders while a circular table at the center of the room was attended to by Neith in the form of a "computer monitor"; which resembled a rather plain, nondescript mirror on an articulating stand. 

Rather than show his face however, the mirror that was Neith displayed the very steps that usually caught the eye of anyone entering through the front door.

"Good morning, Deig!" Came Neith's cheery greeting.

"Good morning, Neith!" Deig replied, "Sammy wanted to see me?"

"Straight ahead, Deig!" 

Tongue lolling, the kobold patted the monitor, which made adorable sounds. He didn't really comprehend the big deal that someone like Neith possessed emotions. As far as he was concerned, Neith was bequeathed life, reason, and a soul, and that was all there is to it. As far as he was concerned, Neith was people, regardless of what form she occupied.

His tail wagged as he made his way up the stairs, and it made him straighten up. Farlan's woodworking was excellent, the steps did not bow or creak at the slightest hint of weight, yet the wood sang with the satisfying clomp of leather soles against good timber.

Although he knew he was expected, he still knocked on the doors before letting himself in.

If there was a room that would represent the spirit Ram Ranch, it was this room; Farlan's office. Farlan's desk was appropriated from the corrupt noble who ran the town of Irons, as was much of the other furniture that now stood in this room. Deig smiled, seeing the ill-gotten gains of the Guileheads now benefiting the ones they exploited.

A grand fireplace crackled with life-giving warmth as a merrily burning flame danced on fragrant birchwood, giving the room a comforting ambience along with the steadily-ticking clock. A shelf stood against one wall, lined with books, scrolls, periodicals; both from Terragalia and from Earth regarding the acquisition, cultivation, and enhancement of one's leadership skills. A well-inhabited armchair, footrest, and coffee table stood near it, as did a tall faerie-light, all of which were gifted by Philia from her old world. It was a place that Farlan was starting to take to more and more during his free time as Philia wanted him to become a proper leader. 

Hanging on the corner wall was a reproduction painting of King Elrei Veles XII, which regardless of how anyone thought of the King, his office, or his government, all agreed that hanging his picture in a room where solemn business was conducted lended the place an air of authority.

"Have some!" Sammy said, gesturing at the post-breakfast hors d'oeuvres; canapes of smoked lakefish laying atop round buttered slices of bread. Some of the smoked fish were cushioned in a generous dollop of sharp mustard-mayonnaise, others in a mild chili relish, among others crafted by Lirene earlier that morning.

“Thank you!” Deig said, taking his seat beside Nod and helping himself to a canape that had a big block of sharp cheese and olives.

The orc sat at Farlan's usual place, presiding over this meeting she was holding with Farlan himself, Kirtus, Cataline, Edward, Nod, and Lirene. As per orcish tradition, she presided over the meeting wearing around her shoulders the pelt of a boar she personally hunted and skinned. It looked like a dark fluffy shawl.

"As I said..." Nod continued with a slight tone of protest in his voice, "I should be out at the market today, earning coin for the village. Word of the procession is still fresh, and people would have been flocking to my cart-"

"And let them be in want of your catch, Nod." Sammy smiled, radiating that wise aura of a leader befitting of the issue of the renowned Tom Foster of the Nightmane. "When you return later this afternoon they will flock to you as if it was the early morning. Right now, however, we need to coordinate our actions...."

The orc held up a bag of gold, dropping it on the desk and impressing everyone with the weight.

"You need a bigger boat, Nod." Sammy said, "We will be heading to shipwrights at the Teth Valley River looking for someone who can build you a fitting vessel. When we take our second foray into that mirrored realm of Earth, I foresee increased storage for your catches, and more than that, we need to start creating a stockpile of preserved fish not just to sell for profit but also to stockpile for our village's needs. Cataline... how goes the formula?"

The Maiyeah sheepishly looked at the others before clearing her throat.

"I'm still in the middle of testing, Chief." She replied, "I have fish batches of Nod's catch in different solutions of oil, salt, herbs, and other preservative alchemy. I need another few days to at least test if they are indeed fit for eating. Also, I'm still awaiting training from Philia to use her world's tools such as the microscope."

She paused and looked around, seeing that not everyone remembered the device or its nature.

"It's like a telescope but for viewing tiny objects." She explained, "I'll be using it to see if there's any of those ill harbingers of decay..." she gulped, still having a bit of an existential crisis that throughout all this time these tiny creatures were everywhere. In the very room she was in, on the sofa she was sitting on, on her, her skin, even inside of her body...

Sammy patiently nodded, her shaggy boar ears wiggling. The revelation of these miniscule but nonetheless deadly harbingers of rot and disease was not an easy reality to accept.

“You heard from Neith and Philia themselves.” Sammy smiled, “As much as these beasts bring rot and decay, their absolute absence weakens our bodies, like a warrior without an opponent. Besides, a few of these germs are as ineffective as a bunch of disorganized bandits versus a mighty empire. And that empire is us.”

The maiyeah exhaled sharply, smiling as Edward patted her shoulder comfortingly.

"You’re right, Chief. Neith told me it's not realistic to seek a completely sterile result anyway, one devoid of all of these... pathogens, she tells me that a small amount is still acceptable, no different from what we have been consuming in our food. She likens these remnants to be bumbling bandits before a Kingsguard. Ergo, safe for us to eat."

"That is all I can ask for." Sammy said, leaning back on her chair. "We will not hasten this process, we will let it run its course until you are absolutely certain it will do no one any harm. Now…”, she paused to turn over a new page on her stack of papers, “We could do the partial clearing out of the forest as you requested Edward. So… why wait further? We can have this done in a day.”

Edward let out a porky snort, looking at Farlan who shrugged.

“Sorry, it seems I forgot to write down the fact that we…” Edward began, “...during our recent survey into the forest to make sure, we had discovered the presence of Oar Pines among the groves. They’re both a liability and a boon depending on how we handle these trees.”

Sammy cocked her head questioningly, prompting Cataline; the resident witch, to speak up.

“Oar-Pines have runners like grass.” The Maiyeah explained, “With enough space and fertile ground, their roots will expand and grow another tree…”

“They can grow faster than we can cut them down.” Farlan added, “We don’t have that much people in our village right now, so even if we start cutting down lots of them for charcoal, a wild grove of Oar-Pines will outpace the rate we take from them. That said, having lots of fast-growing timber is a resource we cannot simply disregard. If we can get them to grow in a controlled manner, it will allow us to build our village much quicker.”

“Agreed,” Kirtus began with a bassy bovine rumble, “...and we can’t afford to keep going further and further into forests we’ve yet to properly explore for more lumber. Those Oar-Pines are the key to having lots of it as demand rises.”

He paused to collect his thoughts. Everyone looked at him, seemingly knowing what he was going to say next. Especially with what they had been shown only too recently. 

“Earth’s alchemy, as destructive as Neith has shown them, has its uses. With the proper use, we can use this to corral the growth of the Oar-Pines to prevent them from growing where we don’t want them to.”

“The land-clearing request can wait then.” Sammy said, “Let’s hope our sea-man from Ingrid’s old world can find us a suitable alchemy.”

There was a round of assent murmurs from the group

“Very well… I guess that concludes business for today.” Sammy held up a hand as everyone got up. She laid down a box on the table. Opening it revealed more earpieces. Everyone sat down immediately.

“In light of the recent procession in honor of Saint Ygris, more attention will be put on us. We’ve also made enemies, enemies that may have means to associate you with us. Philia suggested all of you start wearing these.”  Sammy said, “The Guileheads are still a threat, and she is of the opinion we cannot afford to rely on them to not suspect us, any of us, as responsible for the deaths of their chapters at Irons.”

Everyone nodded gravely.

“Of course, we’re safe while we’re here in the valley. But I need all of you to get used to wearing these every day in preparation for the times we won’t be in safer places. We start this habit now, it will benefit us in the long run.”

“Agreed” they all chorused.

Sammy got up, and began distributing them “I’ll be teaching you how to use these devices and I’ll need you to teach the others as well, first off, we need to assign some callsigns…”

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