It is the beginning of a New month! The best time to join Patreon!
Well... with subscription billing, not anymore, as now any time is a good time to join, but the point stands!
I mentioned before that all patrons of the Magus/Archmagus tier will gain access to all three stories for the same price as before until the day Blood Demon's Retirement ended on Royal Road. In the meantime, however, I had released a new story, titled And (N)one Shall Remain. As such, this new story will be included in the previous deal, with all patrons of the Magus/Archmagus tier still receiving the promised access to three stories for the price of two!
For 5$ a Month, get access to 20 advance chapters, or get access to 55 advance chapters for 10$! You can also subscribe to all my stories at the same time for the combined price of 9/18$, or join as an annual patron for an extra 10% discount!
Free Lances is Two patrons away from hitting the 25/55 chapter checkpoint!
I would like to thank the following:
Mansikamarja
Derp Njeh
Falxie
Keith Kindall
Nathan Avery
Edwin Jose
Martynas Samsonas
Michael Buchler
Graham Kinnear
Banjok
Wierdwhirl
Dami
Ole Martin Johnsen
Justgothit
Leonardo Noriega
Alec
Kaouenn
Daisulic
Nonesuch
Alex
Deagel
Karma Baris
Anthony Tedeschi
Dobby Dobson
Soup
ZephanyZephZeph
Mark Cuthbert
Captaincael
Soup
Xtriver
cl
Kelly
Commander Miggs
Justin Thouvenout
Paul Middleton
Micah T Wallis
Arrtu
Christian Dodeur
Shiki
Coloner Doloryias
Alfonso Divinagracia
Lobbox
Anonymonous
Rh3sos
For making all this possible! I couldn't have done it without your support!
All your support goes to putting food on my table and a roof over my head, and I wish to extend my deepest gratitude to all my supporters!
“The way people treat those who felt like they were born in the wrong body, as the wrong gender, often greatly differed depending on the region. In some places, people like these were not just accepted, but were often downright celebrated at times, and were considered honored members of the societies they were in. For certain societies, like specific tribes of therians, this was often even an important part of their life cycle, as some kinds transition naturally from one gender to another at some point in their life.
Other places just treat them as normal, with most people politely using the way these individuals prefer to be called. Those that outright shun them were generally in the minority, and it was an occurrence most often seen amongst humans who congregated amongst themselves.
On the other hand, while many of these individuals wished to find a powerful healer to alter their physical bodies to what they felt was right for them, that was often an undertaking that was easier said than done. Healers of that caliber were rare to be found, and even if available, it was uncertain that they could perform such a feat, or that the individual could afford the treatment, for that matter. As such, those who were fortunate enough to truly transition in their lives tend to be few and far between, at least so far.” – From a lecture by Garth Wainwrought, Dean of the Levain Institute of Higher Learning, circa 681 FP.
“Oh, I actually missed out on most of the mess here,” admitted Ze’phane as they traveled. While Levain called itself a “Free City”, its territory still encompassed quite a bit of the land around it, and it took around a day to travel from the borders to the city proper, further in some areas. “I didn’t see eye to eye with how Maglos did things, so I quit and wandered around in search of a healer capable of dealing with my issues. That was like, five years before he got his ass assassinated in public, thereabouts.”
“Huh, pretty lucky to have done that, I guess. Heard the capital was one of the messiest places early on in the civil war,” commented Reinhardt. While the Free Lances were not involved in the civil war that wreaked havoc over the former Empire’s lands, they still kept in touch with the news from the region. As such, they heard about most of the major happenings of the war.
“It’s the main reason the Free City exists as it is now, Captain,” replied Councillor Adenauer from his seat across the wagon from Reinhardt. “The civilians of the capital were just tired of being treated like they didn’t exist while warlord after warlord fought over the city in order to claim it for themselves, so they made a stand for themselves. They might not have many trained warriors, but a force of over four hundred thousand civilians rising up together in riot was more than what any of the warlords back then were prepared to handle.”
“Of course, they’ve downsized the militia to merely fifty thousand active members since, but that still includes another hundred thousand reserves,” the former noble continued. “Not counting all the women, elderly, and children who would take up arms once more if they felt the need to, which would have put our numbers to like half a million put together. For that reason, nobody had been willing to try to dislodge them from their city.”
“I returned to the area around a couple years ago myself, got hired by the council and been training up cavalry for them these days,” said Ze’phane relaxedly to support what the councillor said. “There’s plenty of eager youths willing to train, and we didn’t really lack the steeds either, equipment could be better though,” she added as she took a pointed glance at the other cavalrymen she led.
Reinhardt nodded as he saw what Ze’phane meant by her words. The cavalrymen that rode with them were lightly armored, with only a lamellar suit made from weaving pieces of boiled leather together over their tunics. It was poor armor, though definitely better than nothing, and at best they would be able to serve as scouts and light cavalry in battle.
“I don’t suppose you hired me to also help with this issue, Councillor?” asked Reinhardt to Salicia’s father.
“No, no, not at all, though if you were willing to offer some methods to construct better armor out of what resources we have, that would be greatly appreciated, and our appreciation would naturally be shown in bonuses,” said the former nobleman cleverly. “Similarly, if after a battle you salvaged armor that were still in good shape from your enemies and had no use for them, we would happily buy it at market price.”
“Clever,” admitted Reinhardt with a chuckle. “I can approve of such sales when the time comes, so that’s not an issue. As for the tips… I’ll ask Pops about it, but no promises. You’ll likely have to negotiate with him yourself,” he added with a wide, toothy grin.
“An acceptable compromise,” said the former nobleman as he nodded in agreement. “I shall look forward to matching words with the senior, then.”
“Anyway, now that we’re here, I would like to ask a few questions I am hoping you could provide more detail on,” mentioned Reinhardt. He had not asked the questions beforehand because it was simply not something someone asked until the other side was certain that everyone was on the same boat.
“More details about the Free City, I assume?” asked Councillor Adenauer lightly, having already anticipated the query.
“Exactly,” replied Reinhardt. “I know you’ve given us the general situation before, and I’ve refrained from pushing for details since at the time we were still on the way and technically not under formal employment yet. Now that we’ve reached here, I think it’s an appropriate time to ask for those details. What numbers and types of troops can we expect to be working with? How far would you like us to take the training?”
“Certainly, Captain. Allow me to clarify those points, then…”
Avitue
If you enjoy this story, please consider leaving a rating or review to help it gain more exposure, thank you! Or help support the author by leaving a tip!
Read ahead on my Patreon! For 5$ a month patrons will gain early access of up to 20 chapters ahead, or for 10$ a month, gain early access of up to 45 chapters ahead!
Or you can subscribe to all my stories and get a 10% discount on the price!
For every 15 cumulative new patrons in the Free Mage/Free Archmage/Magus/Archmagus tier I get in a month, from the next month onwards the respective patreon tiers will receive +5/+10 chapters permanently, until we reach my usual 25/55 chapters ahead!
Join the Discord for silly stuff and chat with us!
It is the beginning of a New month! The best time to join Patreon!
Well... with subscription billing, not anymore, as now any time is a good time to join, but the point stands!
I mentioned before that all patrons of the Magus/Archmagus tier will gain access to all three stories for the same price as before until the day Blood Demon's Retirement ended on Royal Road. In the meantime, however, I had released a new story, titled And (N)one Shall Remain. As such, this new story will be included in the previous deal, with all patrons of the Magus/Archmagus tier still receiving the promised access to three stories for the price of two!
For 5$ a Month, get access to 20 advance chapters, or get access to 55 advance chapters for 10$! You can also subscribe to all my stories at the same time for the combined price of 9/18$, or join as an annual patron for an extra 10% discount!
Free Lances is Two patrons away from hitting the 25/55 chapter checkpoint!
I would like to thank the following:
Mansikamarja
Derp Njeh
Falxie
Keith Kindall
Nathan Avery
Edwin Jose
Martynas Samsonas
Michael Buchler
Graham Kinnear
Banjok
Wierdwhirl
Dami
Ole Martin Johnsen
Justgothit
Leonardo Noriega
Alec
Kaouenn
Daisulic
Nonesuch
Alex
Deagel
Karma Baris
Anthony Tedeschi
Dobby Dobson
Soup
ZephanyZephZeph
Mark Cuthbert
Captaincael
Soup
Xtriver
cl
Kelly
Commander Miggs
Justin Thouvenout
Paul Middleton
Micah T Wallis
Arrtu
Christian Dodeur
Shiki
Coloner Doloryias
Alfonso Divinagracia
Lobbox
Anonymonous
Rh3sos
For making all this possible! I couldn't have done it without your support!
All your support goes to putting food on my table and a roof over my head, and I wish to extend my deepest gratitude to all my supporters!
“The way people treat those who felt like they were born in the wrong body, as the wrong gender, often greatly differed depending on the region. In some places, people like these were not just accepted, but were often downright celebrated at times, and were considered honored members of the societies they were in. For certain societies, like specific tribes of therians, this was often even an important part of their life cycle, as some kinds transition naturally from one gender to another at some point in their life.
Other places just treat them as normal, with most people politely using the way these individuals prefer to be called. Those that outright shun them were generally in the minority, and it was an occurrence most often seen amongst humans who congregated amongst themselves.
On the other hand, while many of these individuals wished to find a powerful healer to alter their physical bodies to what they felt was right for them, that was often an undertaking that was easier said than done. Healers of that caliber were rare to be found, and even if available, it was uncertain that they could perform such a feat, or that the individual could afford the treatment, for that matter. As such, those who were fortunate enough to truly transition in their lives tend to be few and far between, at least so far.” – From a lecture by Garth Wainwrought, Dean of the Levain Institute of Higher Learning, circa 681 FP.
“Oh, I actually missed out on most of the mess here,” admitted Ze’phane as they traveled. While Levain called itself a “Free City”, its territory still encompassed quite a bit of the land around it, and it took around a day to travel from the borders to the city proper, further in some areas. “I didn’t see eye to eye with how Maglos did things, so I quit and wandered around in search of a healer capable of dealing with my issues. That was like, five years before he got his ass assassinated in public, thereabouts.”
“Huh, pretty lucky to have done that, I guess. Heard the capital was one of the messiest places early on in the civil war,” commented Reinhardt. While the Free Lances were not involved in the civil war that wreaked havoc over the former Empire’s lands, they still kept in touch with the news from the region. As such, they heard about most of the major happenings of the war.
“It’s the main reason the Free City exists as it is now, Captain,” replied Councillor Adenauer from his seat across the wagon from Reinhardt. “The civilians of the capital were just tired of being treated like they didn’t exist while warlord after warlord fought over the city in order to claim it for themselves, so they made a stand for themselves. They might not have many trained warriors, but a force of over four hundred thousand civilians rising up together in riot was more than what any of the warlords back then were prepared to handle.”
“Of course, they’ve downsized the militia to merely fifty thousand active members since, but that still includes another hundred thousand reserves,” the former noble continued. “Not counting all the women, elderly, and children who would take up arms once more if they felt the need to, which would have put our numbers to like half a million put together. For that reason, nobody had been willing to try to dislodge them from their city.”
“I returned to the area around a couple years ago myself, got hired by the council and been training up cavalry for them these days,” said Ze’phane relaxedly to support what the councillor said. “There’s plenty of eager youths willing to train, and we didn’t really lack the steeds either, equipment could be better though,” she added as she took a pointed glance at the other cavalrymen she led.
Reinhardt nodded as he saw what Ze’phane meant by her words. The cavalrymen that rode with them were lightly armored, with only a lamellar suit made from weaving pieces of boiled leather together over their tunics. It was poor armor, though definitely better than nothing, and at best they would be able to serve as scouts and light cavalry in battle.
“I don’t suppose you hired me to also help with this issue, Councillor?” asked Reinhardt to Salicia’s father.
“No, no, not at all, though if you were willing to offer some methods to construct better armor out of what resources we have, that would be greatly appreciated, and our appreciation would naturally be shown in bonuses,” said the former nobleman cleverly. “Similarly, if after a battle you salvaged armor that were still in good shape from your enemies and had no use for them, we would happily buy it at market price.”
“Clever,” admitted Reinhardt with a chuckle. “I can approve of such sales when the time comes, so that’s not an issue. As for the tips… I’ll ask Pops about it, but no promises. You’ll likely have to negotiate with him yourself,” he added with a wide, toothy grin.
“An acceptable compromise,” said the former nobleman as he nodded in agreement. “I shall look forward to matching words with the senior, then.”
“Anyway, now that we’re here, I would like to ask a few questions I am hoping you could provide more detail on,” mentioned Reinhardt. He had not asked the questions beforehand because it was simply not something someone asked until the other side was certain that everyone was on the same boat.
“More details about the Free City, I assume?” asked Councillor Adenauer lightly, having already anticipated the query.
“Exactly,” replied Reinhardt. “I know you’ve given us the general situation before, and I’ve refrained from pushing for details since at the time we were still on the way and technically not under formal employment yet. Now that we’ve reached here, I think it’s an appropriate time to ask for those details. What numbers and types of troops can we expect to be working with? How far would you like us to take the training?”
“Certainly, Captain. Allow me to clarify those points, then…”
Avitue
If you enjoy this story, please consider leaving a rating or review to help it gain more exposure, thank you! Or help support the author by leaving a tip!
Read ahead on my Patreon! For 5$ a month patrons will gain early access of up to 20 chapters ahead, or for 10$ a month, gain early access of up to 45 chapters ahead!
Or you can subscribe to all my stories and get a 10% discount on the price!
For every 15 cumulative new patrons in the Free Mage/Free Archmage/Magus/Archmagus tier I get in a month, from the next month onwards the respective patreon tiers will receive +5/+10 chapters permanently, until we reach my usual 25/55 chapters ahead!
Join the Discord for silly stuff and chat with us!
