《The Wolfram Chronicles》Chapter 16 - Lara
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Dragon Marines, a simple but accurate name to describe the role in which the unit he had in mind would play. The idea was to form a highly trained, disciplined, and multi-role unit able to operate anywhere in the world-- air, land, and sea. It was an ambitious plan, but one that Vance was sure he could pull off with the help of Marshal Franz and the individual he had sent him and Estrid to go find to get the plan underway. Who was this person? Neither knew beyond what Franz had told them before leaving his office, paperwork in toe. All they did learn from what they were told was this individual was a highly talented Quartermaster that had been snubbed in much the same way Vance was due to their lack of social and economic standing. Apparently, it seemed right to not only build up the reputation of Vance but this individual they would meet soon. Either way, they'd need all the help they could get if he were to found the Dragon Marines.
Thus far, all Vance had was the commissioned officer rank of Lieutenant Colonel in the King's Royal Army, with Estrid holding the rank of Major and Richard's rank being that of Captain; the former having a higher grade due to her past service. The senior ranks would help give them the means to command some respect from their fellow's in the Royal Army, but little else until they had a reputation.
"Well, we're here," Estrid noted, prompting Vance to shake his head clear of all thought as he looked up at the brick house.
Looking up, Vance would note how the building in question seemed more like a mini-factory than a house, but that was likely intentional given how the nobility around here was likely preventing who dwelled inside from going far.
Walking up, Vance rapped on the door a few times with the back of his knuckles. "No point waiting around then. The faster we get through this, the faster we can get the unit formed and armed." Vance said.
No sooner had his hand returned to his side did the thick wood door swing open, with a single young blonde-haired woman looking none too pleased to see either visitors. "Yes?" she greeted coldly.
"Ah, sorry if we're disturbing something, but we have your new orders," Vance said, passing the woman Franz's orders.
She quickly grabbed the orders, giving them a brisk read. "Oh?... OH! Oh shit, sorry, I'm so so sorry, I thought..." Facepalming, the blonde seemed to do a complete one-eighty in mood and personality.
"Thought we were the nobles?" Estrid interjected.
Nodding, she stuffed the small letter into her back pocket before looking up at the two, now far more friendlier than before, "Again, I'm sorry, I'm just so used to those vultures trying to take more of my things... so I just assumed."
"It's fine; besides, you didn't do anything?" Vance replied quickly. "But, cool if we come in?"
She quickly moved aside, ushering them both in, "Of course! By all means!"
Upon entering, the blonde would close the door and rush to her tiny kitchen. "Please, please, take a seat, make yourselves at home." She started, "Do either of you want something to drink? I don't have much besides water... Hope that's enough?"
As they took a seat on one of the long worn out couches nearby, Vance couldn't help but feel something strange coming from this woman. He couldn't quite place it, but she seemed important? He wasn't sure, but before he could really think more on the matter, she returned, water in hand.
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"So... what are you here for?" She asked, placing the glasses in front of each.
Estrid spoke up first, "I thought the Marshal detailed why in the note we gave you?"
"This? No, it was just a small thing telling me I could trust you two and that I'm to assist and join whatever unit you're trying to start up." She replied.
Vance looked puzzled for a second, much like Estrid, but quickly pushed past it. "Well, truthfully, I suppose he didn't lie since the idea was that you'd help us get what we needed to found the new Regiment," Vance explained before taking a sip.
"Uh... right? I suppose I can do that for you, but I don't know what unit you're trying to get off the ground?"
"An experimental unit of sorts. Also, I haven't gotten your name yet." Vance replied before adding, "I'm Vance Wolfram, and-"
"Major Estrid Demoulin." Estrid finished.
Vance raised a brow, slightly amused at how she added her new rank in front of her name, seemingly beaming with pride. It wasn't too surprising, he supposed, given what she had told him before. The rank of Major was initially closed off to her when she served before, and now here she sat, a Major in the Royal Army that had once scorned and shunned her... relatively young too, he might add. Vance himself was also far too young to hold the rank he had, but that was a little bit of information he'd keep to himself for now, as it seemed everyone treated him as though he were older than eighteen.
"Lara, Lara Dunsman. Second Lieutenant, and Quartermaster in his Majesties Royal Engineers." She replied, extending her hand to shake her superior officers.
Vance and Estrid returned the gesture in kind, they were all relatively young, but it seemed as though Lara was the only one with the appropriate rank for her age. That little fact made Vance smirk.
"A pleasure. But, I hope you don't mind me quickly jumping into it?"
Lara shook her head, "Not at all. Please! I'm eager to know what you need me to do."
Vance promptly laid out his plan, pulling out some spare paper from his vest pocket to scribble down a few notes. Lara and Estrid watched, partial amazed at how quickly Vance jotted down and illustrated his ideas. What made them more impressed was how detailed they appeared to be.
"My plan is to create a new unit comprised of highly trained individuals who will ride Wyverns into battle, each-"
"Wait, wait, wait!" She pumped her hands as though hitting an imaginary break, "What do you mean, Wyverns?"
"Oh, uh, yeah... I guess we should clarify... Estrid?" Vance said, passing the question off to Estrid, who looked irked for a second before answering.
"As the Colonel said, we've managed to find a den of Wyverns that had remained hidden deep within the mountains near the tomb of the First Emperor. It's how we got here too." She explained.
That answer did little to squash the qualms of Lara, who looked more confused than before, "Right~ so... let's say I understand and believe what you say is true, what do you want me to do?"
Estrid nudged Vance with her elbow, prompting him to continue, "What we need from you is help. I have a few equipment requests and schematics I'm hoping you'll help us get." He answered, pushing the schematics towards the Engineer.
Lara glanced down, taking a look at the designs Vance had hurriedly written up. Although, given his heightened intelligence and abilities as a High Human, what was just a quick scribble to him was a complete detailed blueprint on how to develop the world's first rifled breach loaded carbine. The Engineer's eyes went wide with astonishment.
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"By the gods..." She gasped. "This... this is incredible!" Looking up at Vance, "and you just came up with this?" She asked.
Vance shrugged, "Yeah, it's been rolling around in my head for a bit, but it's a fairly simple design and won't require much in the way of crafting if we put our heads together." Vance replied casually as he took a sip of water.
Lara was still in disbelief at what her new commanding officer had just said and had to look to Estrid to see if she was the only one. Estrid shot her a sympathetic look, knowing full well what it was like to deal with Vance. Despite only having known him for three days, he had done more and achieved more than any other living individual she'd seen or heard of.
"Can you do it?" Vance asked, breaking the silence.
"Uh... yeah! I'm sure I can get a working prototype done in a few short weeks after we procure all the other items on your list." She replied quickly. "Things like the cuirasses, steel helms, and cavalry sabres will be easy to get since there's an excess of that stuff in storage. Lately, the Royal Army hasn't been too keen on using the King's Curaissers for battles lately, so there's a lot of stuff just sitting around." She noted while looking over all the stuff Vance had written up. "Umm... hmm... the uniforms will be easy as well since you stated here that you just want to reuse the Hussar's uniform with the added protection of the Cuirass and helm. None of this should be too hard to get."
"Good, that should make this whole ordeal that much faster than," Vance noted.
He was genuinely excited now, as he wasn't expecting things to move this fast, although this was likely going to be the first real wait since becoming a High Human and getting his memories back from his life on Earth. Hell, most of what he had written down was stuff he was only able to recall due to the gifts Julia had endowed him with. Most of the memories he recalled were pictures and diagrams he had briefly glimpsed back during his initial studies at the University of Toronto, so to recall them so vividly as though he had been looking at the page yesterday, which was a huge boon and would make forming and arming the Dragon Marines a lot easier. What would take time, though, would be the training.
"Now, as for what to do next, we'll need to recruit the actual Marines." Vance sighed, realizing that was his biggest issue now.
He couldn't give the honour of riding a Wyvern to just anyone, they needed to be people he trusted, people who knew him and were loyal to him and Julia's pantheon. Anyone or anything else could potentially betray and use all he creates against him.
"Why not recruit from Luna?" Estrid answered.
Vance glanced over at her, tilting his head in thought for a second, "That... will actually work. Yeah, we can recruit the Adventurers that are left to fill up the NCO roles and have those who helped lead the militia during the goblin raid assigned as officers." Vance said before using one of the few pieces of paper he had left to draft up more ideas on how to form the unit. "No more than a hundred... that's all we can field realistically. So we won't need very many officers, likely only four junior officers, three since you're now going to hold one of those posts." Vance explained further before pointing towards Lara, who looked more surprised at hearing that final statement than anything else.
"Excuse me?" She found herself saying.
"As of the moment we came to your door, you were placed under my command, and as such, are one of the founding members of the Dragon Marines, Lara." Vance smiled.
Lara rested her face on the palm of her open hand as she tried to comprehend all that was happening. "I'm an engineer though; I'm not-"
"Not a Dragon Marine? None of us are. But, the thing is, I see something in you, and so does the Marshal. And what better way to learn what the unit needs most than being directly part of it? Hmm? You'll also be moving your supply operations to Luna, where the Regiment will be based for the foreseeable future, as it's the only place the Wyverns feel safe and where we can reliably build bonds between the riders and them." As Vance spoke, he stood up and began to examine her setup.
The house she lived in was a small cramped place that could ill afford to house an individual, let alone the massive forge that took up most of the space, and separating the forge from the living area was a thin wall of stone that looked as though it had been placed there by the owner rather than the builders. Indeed, this was not an ideal place for one to call home.
"Huh..." Vance suddenly began to think on the forge, noting how well used it appeared from where he stood in the living room... or what constituted one.
Then, that same feeling he had when he first met her began to grow larger as though Julia herself was trying to whisper something in his ear. Snapping his head around to face Lara once more, he looked into her green eyes that seemed to shimmer like jewels.
"Question... do you worship the god, Bob?" Vance asked.
Lara scratched the back of her head, looking a little scared, "Uh... yeah, I do, why?"
Vance rubbed his chin, "Huh... and did you ever feel as though your hammer strikes were being guided? As if someone was watching over you or whispering instructions into your ear?"
"Yeah... but... that's the feeling everyone gets, don't they?"
"No, no, they do not," Vance muttered to himself.
"Well, never mind, for now, we'll need you to pack your stuff up and get ready to leave in two days," Vance ordered before he nodded to Estrid. "We have a few things we have to do ourselves back at Luna, but in two days, we'll return to bring you and your stuff to your new home. I'm sure you'll enjoy the town." Vance said as he made for the door.
"Sorry to cut our meeting short, but I just remembered something important back home, so before I forget again," Vance explained with Estrid exiting first ahead of him. "Remember two days. And don't worry about the forge, we have a better equipped one at Luna, and it'll leave you speechless when you see it." Vance said, a slight playful smirk tugging at the edge of his lips.
"Alright? See you then, I guess?" Lara replied, walking up to see the two out, but just as they walked out, she quickly added, "Oh! And I'll have the uniforms done by then, or at the very least your own."
Vance tilted his head, "Oh? But you don't even know our sizes?"
This time it was Lara who smiled, "I have a few talents beyond smithing." She winked before closing the door behind her.
Vance and Estrid looked at each other then back at the door. "Okay? Well, in any case, let's get back to Richard and head back to Luna. I think he'll want to hear what I just discovered."
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On the Road to Elspar (Book 1)
The year is 1329. The Huntress' War has entered its tenth year, inflaming competing nationalisms and pitting the Confederacy of Caldrein against one of the continent's superpowers, the Tenereian Union. Desperately outnumbered, the Confederacy has relied on the prowess of its famed Caldran mercenaries, with highly-trained and experienced warbands returning from foreign conflicts to the defense of their homeland, and it is on their backs that Caldrein has successfully mounted a valiant defense for a decade. But they are losing, and day by day, with all the grace of a sledgehammer, the vast Tenereian armies take one more bit of Caldran territory, one footstep at a time. Sixteen-year-old Neianne from the village of Caelon has submitted herself to Faulkren Academy, one of the centuries-old institutions established to train the next generation of Caldrein's elite soldiers of fortune, to learn the ways of wars for three years before embarking upon the defense of her country. Her dryad family once hailed from reclusive woodland communes isolated from Caldrein's complicated mainstream society, and her upbringing leaves the shy village girl unprepared to suddenly train alongside other apprentices from backgrounds as low as the dirty slums of Caldrein's cities and as high as the halls of aristocratic power. Yet the war is eroding the norms and traditions that the Caldran people have long considered part of their national mythos, and the tensions within the confederacy that have long simmered under the surface - race, class, community, identity - are slowly but surely dividing its people, and Neianne must grow and discover who she really is, even as the war that she is steadfastly training for comes to its inexorable end... On the Road to Elspar is a fantasy quest - a work of interactive fiction wherein readers get to vote on what happens next at critical junctures - that is the first entry in a story that follows Neianne of Caelon, which first began on July 20, 2016. Originally a three-part in medias res prologue to a larger story titled On the Elsparian Road, it was eventually decided that this section - which covers Neianne's three years at Faulkren Academy - become its own independent story due to length, structural, and accessibility reasons. Despite this being a reader interactive work of fiction, due to logistical and verification concerns, voting will only be counted on its thread on the forum Sufficient Velocity, where this story originally began. As such, the content here on Royal Road serves as a story-only archive. You are, of course, entirely welcome to enjoy On the Road to Elspar as a conventional work of fiction, just as you are welcome to comment, discuss, and provide critique. But if you would like to participate in the voting, then I would be honored to welcome you on Sufficient Velocity. To facilitate accessibility and to ensure the best reading experience, this story-only version of On the Road to Elspar will be updated at a periodic pace, even though further content exists, so as to not overwhelm new readers on Royal Road. If you enjoy this story, wish to binge it, and/or want to participate in voting immediately, you may of course read all additional content via the link provided above. This paragraph will be removed once the content on Royal Road catches up with what has already been posted in its original thread. Cover artwork by DreamSyndd.
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