Infrastructure: Part Two Hundred and Sixty Three

For decades after the Escort War there was one memory that would come up to Talnara ti'Valcas in recollection regularly enough that she would wrote of it in her diary and latter in her third Dirvagiel*. Said memory involved a previous recollection, specifically to her childhood magic tutorials two hundred and forty years earlier and some exercises she had done, doing simple spells over and over again to hone her ability to shape the forces and produce desired results. Her abilities in turned out were somewhat above average even though a career in magery had little appeal to her. In that moment she recalled the fact that she pulled out one of those simple spells for the first time since childhood at meeting at the Citadel over the Invasion of Avesia.

It had been expected that the Infrastructural would continue playing it defensively, defending their coastlines and convoys. Maybe sending out a few ironclads to harry their fleet and shipping to thin out their numbers and hinder their war effort. The invasion of Avesia was an unexpected move, especially with their ties to Venoa. Even so the reasons for doing so were obvious as the place was a prime supply of fresh slaves and saltpeter when they were rebuilding and upgrading their flee. Several of House Valcas's contracts had gone up in smoke, prices were going up and completion dates for new Industrial projects and warships had been set back with increased price tags. By reports most of the island kingdom had already fallen even if their was still fierce fighting. It was a frustrating development, but while many of her peers could view this matter sensibly there were others who were not responding to this in a good way.

She'd gotten wind of a proposal by a group of figures from a few warrior houses who'd put together a proposed plan that they devised and were petitioning for some additional resources. Had laid out with a map of the island and a set of small model ships with some basic enchantments to make them move and fire off broadsides at certain queues. The plan itself was not badly put together given the circumstances, involving probing attacks to draw out their forces out so a force of a thousand or so elite warriors in runic armor to cleave through the coldlander scum and their pet rebels.

Even so once the presentation was done Talanara walked over. "Lord Senzalath. You and your associates have displayed many commendable qualities in your proposal: the general strategy is sound, as are your assessments of the strengths and weaknesses of their soldiers. Regardless, there is one problem that you have overlooked. Namely the matter of benefits and costs. We should make no mistake, in this attack losses in warriors, weapons, equipment, slaves and ships..." She swiped a model frigate from the table and incinerated it in a small fireball "...will be high and all we will gain from this is ashes." She let the embers fall to the floor and then laid a scimitar coin on the table in compensation.

Lord Senzilath's response to this was indignant. "Lady Valcas, I must concede that in the past decades your house's efforts are commendable. Your sweat and toil has yielded many new contrivances and improvements which have been a boon to us. However while you might take pride in your creations you should keep in mind why they were made. You sentimentality for your creations may stay your hand when action is needed oh most illustrious of artisans, but we are not so obsessed with the well being of our tools, finely made they are, as to never use them for their purpose. Even if a few ships are sunk and some of our warriors fall, we'll bleed out their forces, rally the Avesians, force them to abandon their quest and show the world the Golem Worshipers are still but mortals. And when Avesia rises again, we'll be sure that they deliver any order they owe you."

"While the generosity of your gesture is noted even if your proposed force can arrive in time and force the Infrastructurals into retreat your restored Avesian Kingdom would be hard pressed to feed itself, let alone restore the slave markets. Most of their settlements have fallen and have been sacked. A large chunk of the free population is either dead or captured, including many connected slave merchants and along with some of their suppliers. Much of their now diminished stock would have to be put down and their estates would be left in ruins. Even if you succeeded it would be decades at least before they would be back to their former output. And this at a time when we have unsettling reports from Venoa and that The Eternal Foe is readying it's fleet. You are asking this council to give resources squander ships and warriors on the vague hopes of preserving a scrap of a fallen kingdom. We might see the fall of Avesia as being a failure on our part, but that is no reason to keep throwing our assets to burn with it."

And with that she got some support as well as some attacks from her usual lot of rivals. There was a fair bit of frustration over the invasion of Avesia in this stupid war and that might have been enough to get some support for this hair brained adventure they had planned. That enthusiasm would die down after the proposal had been shelved and as it's vague prospects of success shrank. This did mean there was a minor loss in political capital in the short term at least, but her prospects were tied with the strength of Valnothron as a whole which she would not see squandered. This fiasco was nipped in the bud, but ultimately that was only part of the efforts required to sort out the greater fiasco that had been festering for the past three years.

*Literal Translation 'Hundred Book' or 'Century Book'. A genre of memoir literature popular among Dark Elvish elite in which an individual recounts the events that happened over the course of a century of their lives, commonly written from those who are of the great houses.

Previous-Infrastructure: Part Two Hundred and Sixty Two
Next-Infrastructure: Part Two Hundred and Sixty Four