Lucius put the young sailor, whose name was Walter, to good use indeed. He was given one of the most important jobs in all of Aliston, and told he should be proud to make a living with his gift from the gods. Not many people could be so productive for so little effort. More than that, it was something only he could do. In all the Misty Isles, no one else had something equivalent to his [Albatross Gale]. Lucius assured him that making wise use of one's gifts was the obligation of wisdom, the trait of humanity that lifted thema bove animals.

All those consolations did little to lift his spirits as he was used to funnel air into Kajsa’s smelting furnace.

The physics involved were obvious and effective. The forced air flow was more effective than any amount of blacksmith bellows and he could stoke the charcoal to such a blinding temperature the forge didn’t even emit smoke. The fuel was obliterated by the incineration and in doing so heated the crucible until the gold nuggets melted together and could be poured into wax molds.

Nobody much paid attention to Walter’s despair as they weighed out the golden slugs. One for the delivery of supplies and Kajsa was given to Lupin. Another for the hiring of his ship to Little Doe Island. A third for him to return to Rackvidd and hire an inspector for the upgraded factory, as well as certain alchemical supplies that could not be sourced in the Misty Isles.(1)

“And now, I can honestly say that it is a pleasure working with you, my lord Solhart,” the merchant said, slipping the payment into his pocket and shaking his hand. “Do you have any messages you would like delivered?”

“Yes, actually,” Lucius said, and glanced at the petite alchemist.

Kajsa was a sweaty mess, only half removed from her heavy leathers. The outfit had been fitted to someone twice her size, but the gold was needed well before new clothes could be fashioned for her, so the extra burden only exhausted her more. But, she had done as requested and furnished Lucius not only with sufficient gold to pay Lupin, but with plans for a proper refinement factory.

“Kajsa, take the rest of the day off,” he said, and she gave a feeble nod of approval. Then he turned back to Lupin. “Actually, I do need you to spread some news for me,” he said, and the two of them strolled back to the heart of Aliston. The town was quiet, that peculiar lull following the noon heat driving people indoors and to their beds. Only the multi-colored birds still flitted about around them.

“Normally,” Lupin said, clasping his hands behind his back. “Lords in your position are concerned with beginning a spy network, a system of informants. They’re hiring sycophants and courtiers and getting ears into every castle.”

“Who says I haven’t already done that?”

“True, the Solhart family is established. You’re not one of the great families, but you’ve certainly earned your place beneath the king.”

Lucius frowned, which Lupin likely interpreted to be some form of rebellious sympathy. The merchant happened to be precisely the sort of idiot who would say he agreed with Jaque Mordare’s ideas without actually understanding the consequences of ceding all rights to the general will of the electorate. He never imagined it was as simple as Lucius being reminded there were people out there who certainly could call him a fraud. “What I need you to do is declare a bounty for me. I’ll draw up the documents before you go of course.”

“A bounty? What for? The pirates?”

“Not quite.” Lucius’ frown and flipped to a grin as they neared the harbor. There was more life to be had in sight of the sea. It was where the sailors chose to drink the afternoon away rather than sleep it away. “I want to put a bounty on kuku bud plantations.”

That halted Lupin in his tracks. The merchant sputtered. “You’d levy men against our own territory?”

“Against criminals. There’s something you have to understand, Lupin. This is why I won’t let you transport the kuku bud. It’s not just a plant, not just a drug, it’s laced with magic. The plant is itself a physical manifestation of evil. That sounds like sophistry, like I’m talking out of my ass and putting on airs and a dozen other bits of trite rhetoric, but I couldn’t be more literal. That plant is the flesh of a demon that feeds on souls. The languishing it causes is not some mere side effect, it is the rot of that person’s very essence and I mean to do battle with the demon.”

“I’m afraid I don’t quite follow this jesting of yours.’

“It’s not jest.”

“You speak like an evil god hides in the mist.”

“Close enough to the truth.”

“That’s blasphemy.”

Lucius laughed. “I think if you read the various scriptures you’ll in fact find myriad reference to outer gods, and evil beings, and the devouring terrors of the night. When you return to Rackvidd, find one of the temples to Lumis. I’m merely claiming that one such being is here now.”

“Then you need a priest!”

“Perhaps, time will tell. I happen to know where to find one if I need one. For now, what I need are good foot soldiers in this war. The enemy has footholds and they need to be burned out. I don’t have the resources to find them all right now, but I do have the gold. Spread the word, bring me the ships and I will give them my own letters of mark.”

The merchant huffed and shook his head. “I must say that I don’t know how I feel about this, my lord, but I am a loyal subject and if you need me to bring a missive to Lord Raymi, then it is my duty to do so.”

Lucius’ smirk faltered when Lupin changed the terms like that, but he didn’t push the issue. “I’ll get you the paperwork by dawn, will that work?”

Lupin bowed. “I have some preparations to make.”

Lucius nodded and watched the merchant take leave. Then he added, “You didn’t take any of the seeds, did you?”

“Certainly not.”

“It was good adventuring with you then, I wish you safe travels.”

And so, Lucius had one of his largest issues squared away, and once more set himself up as bait. Over the next several weeks, no more attempts were made on his life, giving them the breathing room to sort the affairs of Aliston. New soldiers were recruited and trained, new order imposed on the town. As part of the forced rehabilitation of the kuku addicts, he organized a number of public works projects, digging up old roads and modernizing them.

It was nearly a month later that someone from the king’s bureau arrived on the docks of Aliston, along with one of Lord Raymi’s direct subordinates. Naturally, Lucius threw a small feast to celebrate. Lamdo had managed to not only replenish the serving staff of the manor, but grow it. As the boy had suspected, his war on the drug had the effect of bringing life back to the city. If nothing else, he was giving a swath of working age men work to do that showed visible reward.

Lucius hosted the party from the main street plaza adjacent to the docks, not entirely at his own expense. While the people of town were invited to certain tables, the food and drink were not provided free to them. The entertainment, on the other hand, was. In addition to a meager troupe of minstrels to fill the air with the pluckings of their lyres and the trebels of their voices, all the men of the town were invited to challenges of strength, with honor and alcohol heaped on the victors.(2)

All this played out, across plates of well-buttered venison, out of a sense of diplomatic investigation. Lucius had to posture and display the wealth he was generating, even if it was meager as compared to any other duchy of the kingdom. Lord Raymi’s delegate, Peter Rayz, had to appreciate it all and mentally log it away. The two of them were soldiers at heart, and both understood the importance of supply lines and logistical security.

While some of the soldiers were taking turns hoisting a cask of water onto their shoulders, to much revelry, Peter Rayz said, “You’ve made quite a stir back in Rackvidd, Solhart.”

“Glad to hear that, I suppose. What did I do?” the boy responded coyly, swirling his goblet of wine. He had drunk less than he had appeared to, leaving his eyes sharp as he browsed the firelit revelry. The demon had yet to take his bait for the bag of kuku buds, but there was ample opportunity.

“Your recruitment of… shall we call them maritime mercenaries?”

“To my knowledge, no one has taken me up on that yet.”

“Because all the good ships are being requisitioned for the reconquest of Puerto Faro, or for maintaining the bishop’s expedition south. Everyone was already spoken for when that gold-sniffing Lupin made your announcement.”

Lucius at once read between the lines to infer Lord Raymi had acted to prevent any private vessels from taking the offer, and that if Rayz was bringing it up, there was room for negotiations. “I would think that securing the southern coast would be of an utmost urgency. I couldn’t imagine waging a campaign while pirates could raid my supply lines and then escape off the edge of the map.”

Rayz nodded. “Indeed, that has become a problem for us. The Cyclops sunk three of our ships.”

Lucius almost spilled his drink. “What? How?”

“That’s what we’d like to know. There were no survivors. We only found out by rumor. Had to scout the shipwrecks after the fact. This monster the easterners have hired is dangerous, Solhart. But, we have an advantage.”

“And what would that be?” he asked, though he already suspected the answer.

“We have cannons. They were proven effective at Rackvidd, and Lord Raymi has begun mass production, as he can. Given the importance of logistics… my lord has seen fit that a small detachment of engineers should be stationed here at Aliston with one of the new defense cannons. Our traders need a port that they can take refuge in, if they’re to supply us. And that means the easterners can’t just waltz in for a raid.”

The danger, in the diplomatic sense, was of course that Raymi was sending his own cadre of spies and loyalists into Aliston. Every action Lucius took would be recorded and reported. For a normal lord, this would hardly be an issue, but Lucius was engaged in a theological war with an entity the other lord hardly understood. Nothing would be construed correctly, but he couldn’t refuse them either. With an easy smile belying none of that, Lucius said, “I can begin arrangements for them at once.” The benefits of actor training continued to pay off for him, while he drank and thought about how he could steal off to slaughter a demon without getting branded as some form of blasphemer.