Chapter 30.5: The Final Battle - Recovery
Personal System Calendar: Year 0009, Days 1-28 Month XII: The Imperium
Imperial Calendar: Year 6854, 12th month, 1st to 28th Day
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Respite
With Duke Maximilian having temporarily established residence within the village confines, there had been no assault whatsoever throughout the entirety of Lonelywoods Forest. The cessation of hostilities could be attributed to multiple factors: the severity of injuries those behemoths had sustained in their previous engagement, and the undeniable deterrent effect of the duke's presence.
The Shadowfen forces simply didn't know if Duke Maximilian would personally join the fight if they continued their assault to finish the forest once and for all. Given his legendary reputation and the power radiating from him even in his restricted state, uncertainty bred caution.
Even Pico the Wise Old Owl was hesitant to commit her forces, which represented a significant shift in her usual aggressive strategy. This hesitation, combined with the genuine need for her forces to recuperate, meant that the forest gained crucial time for a much-needed recovery period. The informal truce extended far beyond its original three days, though technically both sides remained in a state of war with hostilities merely suspended rather than concluded.
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Upgraded Defense
With the duke's engineers working tirelessly, the village made significant progress in strengthening its defenses. The transformation was nothing short of remarkable.
Zone Two, the outer defensive perimeter extending two kilometers from end to end, underwent dramatic improvements. The first line of defense now featured a proper curtain wall constructed from fitted stone that stood fifteen meters in height with five meters of thickness at its base. Behind this stone wall, as before, was an incorporated sloped earthwork that added even more defensive depth, another five meters of sloped earth creating a combined defensive structure that would prove extremely difficult to breach.
Zone One, the inner defensive ring was one kilometer from one end to another that touched the mountain; it received similar attention despite its more elevated position requiring different specifications. Here the wall stood ten meters tall but featured even greater thickness at seven meters, taking advantage of the natural elevation to create killing fields where any attacker would be at severe disadvantage.
Each walled section was retrofitted with siege-capable defense towers housing magical ballistae, weapons that could devastate attacking forces from considerable distance. Zone Two featured fifteen such towers positioned to provide 360-degree coverage with overlapping fields of fire. Each tower had a normal effective range of one kilometer, but when enhanced by skilled mages, that range could extend to five kilometers for its effective range and furthermore the bolt would lose its momentum. The towers were evenly spaced along the wall's length, creating a continuous zone of deadly firepower.
Zone One contained ten similar towers, though all of these were required to be armed with ballistae rather than being optional emplacements. This reflected the zone's role as the absolute last conventional defensive line before the fortress itself.
The gate system had been significantly upgraded as well. Zone Two now featured two gates rather than the original single entry point. The main gate remained in its traditional position, but a second gate had been added leading to Zone Three, which housed the separate autonomous community of traditional beast folk members who had joined the settlement but insisted on maintaining their own distinct community apart from the primarily mixed human/beast men population.
Zone One retained its single gatehouse, which served as the sole entry point into the original settlement boundaries. This intentional bottleneck meant attackers could be concentrated and destroyed with focused firepower.
A upgraded defensive moat had been excavated ten feet from the outer wall, extending around the entire perimeter. This moat measured twenty feet in depth and featured sharpened stakes at its bottom, creating a lethal obstacle that would impale any creature unfortunate enough to fall into it.
Zone Three, unfortunately, had only wooden palisade walls and was currently abandoned due to the ongoing war. All beast folk residents had been urged to relocate inside the stone walls of Zones One and Two. The area simply hadn't been significantly developed due to numerous competing projects and insufficient labor to accomplish everything simultaneously.
The village leadership could only express profound gratitude to the engineers of House Solmane for accomplishing in weeks what would have taken their own workers years to complete, if they could have managed it at all.
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The Mountain Fortress
Duke Maximilian also examined their fortress, their absolute final line of defense, which had been excavated inside the old mountain shafts behind the village. He found it strategically sound in concept but inadequate in execution for his exacting standards.
"This is acceptable as a foundation," he announced after his inspection, "but it requires significant upgrades to serve as a true last redoubt."
His engineers immediately began work on expanding the underground chambers, reinforcing support structures, creating multiple escape routes, establishing proper supply caches, and most importantly, installing defensive mechanisms that would make any attempt to storm the fortress suicidal for attackers.
The village leadership couldn't quite understand why Duke Maximilian was doing all this for them when they had only met him a few weeks ago. It was already the second month of the winter season, and the duke showed no signs of leaving until he was satisfied with their defensive posture.
When Chief Red finally worked up the courage to ask, Duke Maximilian's response was characteristically blunt: "The Emperor showed interest in your August. That makes this village significant to the empire's future. I don't allow significant things to be destroyed through inadequate preparation. Besides, my engineers need practice. They've grown soft building decorative pavilions for nobles who don't appreciate proper fortification."
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Village Classification
By imperial settlement classification standards, Maya Village was considered as a Small-Village Type. The imperial system categorized settlements based on family count, with each family assumed to average three to five individuals.
The classification tiers were:
Isolated Dwelling: Individual homes housing up to ten families
Hamlet: A community of 100-150 families
Villages:
- Small: 150-500 families
- Medium: 500-1,000 families
- Large: 1,000-9,999 families
Towns:
- Small: 10,000-15,000 families
- Medium: 15,000-20,000 families
- Large: 20,000-50,000 families
Cities:
- Small: 50,000-100,000 families
- Medium: 100,000-500,000 families
- Large: 500,000-1,000,000 families
- Huge: 1,000,000-10,000,000 families
Conurbation-Metropolis: A combination of two or more huge cities
Maya Village now housed approximately 160 families, placing it firmly in the small village category. Though aesthetically, with all the recent improvements, it felt more like a small town. The defensive infrastructure alone exceeded what many large villages possessed, and the organized layout suggested urban planning rather than organic village growth.
The damage incurred during previous assaults had been substantial. Zone Two had suffered approximately 20% structural damage as defenders held the line there, refusing to allow enemies to breach through to Zone One and threaten the fortress beyond. But all damage had now been completely repaired thanks to the duke's engineers, and the structures were actually stronger than before.
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The Duke's Character
What impressed the villagers most wasn't merely Duke Maximilian's power or the competence of his forces, but his personal character. Despite being one of the empire's pillars, a man whose authority was rivaled only by the Emperor himself and the other great dukes, he lived in poor quarters among his soldiers without a single complaint.
He was profoundly pragmatic and genuinely didn't care what others thought of his lifestyle choices. When August tentatively suggested that perhaps the duke should be given better accommodations, Maximilian's response was dismissive: "I've slept in war camps across three continents. I've bivouacked in swamps, deserts, and frozen tundra. These quarters are actually quite comfortable by comparison. Besides, a leader who demands luxury while his men endure hardship is no leader at all."
This attitude earned him tremendous respect from the imperial soldiers, the village defenders, and even the skeptical beast folk who had initially been uncertain about accepting help from human nobility.
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Imperial Attention
Meanwhile, Emperor Janus had been informed of Duke Maximilian's whereabouts and activities. His response was characteristically understated: a slight raise of his eyebrow and a simple "That's fine. Maximilian knows what he's doing."
The other dukes and duchesses had now taken notice of their fellow pillar's absence from the capital. Some inquired about why he was currently in the great forests rather than attending to his usual duties. This development piqued their curiosity, though not enough to distract them from their current priority: destroying the remnants of the Fresco League rebellion that had managed to slip under the empire's initial purge.
The Imperial Intelligence Division's timely reports had accelerated the systematic destruction of this rebellious group. Most of the twenty pillars couldn't care less what Duke Maximilian chose to do in his spare time, trusting his judgment and assuming he had valid reasons for whatever he was doing.
They would receive the information they wanted in due time, and when they did, it would focus significant additional attention on Maya Village. But for now, they were occupied with their own tasks.
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The Empire's Gaze
What the village residents didn't fully realize was that even before they had formally introduced themselves to the greater world, the empire had already been watching them. Shadows moved in the forests, intelligence agents observing and reporting. Many scrutinizing eyes from the highest echelons of imperial society had been monitoring their current development.
Most of these observers wondered why Emperor Janus had given such a remote settlement such significant attention. The deployment of Dragonguards for a simple escort, the formal recognition as a protectorate, and now Duke Maximilian's personal involvement all suggested something important was happening here.
The consensus among imperial leadership was that the Emperor saw something they didn't yet perceive, and experience taught that Janus's vision extended far beyond what others could comprehend. If he deemed this village significant, then it was significant, regardless of whether the reasons were immediately apparent.
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Successful Containment
Elsewhere throughout the surrounding regions, the containment efforts preventing forest beasts from spilling into nearby settlements outside the great forests had been remarkably successful. The 20th Dragon Cohort deserved much of the credit, their elite warriors creating an impenetrable cordon that no beast could breach without being immediately destroyed.
With containment secured, military planners wanted to refocus their strategic assets and send additional forces to Maya Village to support the anticipated final confrontation. Although Duke Maximilian's presence provided formidable deterrence, the Dragonguards' presence as the Emperor's personal soldiers would carry symbolic weight beyond their already considerable combat capabilities.
Head Master Kaizer Draconis, after reviewing strategic assessments, ordered 100 of his Dragonguards to deploy to Maya Village under the command of Grand Captain Commander Lex Draconis. This represented a substantial commitment of elite forces, roughly 20% of the entire 20th Cohort's combat strength that were with him when they left the forest to do this side quest.
The deployment wasn't merely about adding firepower, though that was certainly valuable. It was about sending a message to both allies and enemies: that the Empire was paying attention, and it would not tolerate threats to settlements under its protection.
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The Final Stage
With these significant military assets converging on the forest, the final battle was approaching its conclusive stages. The pieces were all moving into position on the strategic board. Duke Maximilian's presence, the Solar Guard's defensive improvements, the reinforced village fortifications, the recovering Lonelywoods Guardian Beasts, and now the incoming Dragonguard contingent all combined to create a drastically different situation than had existed mere weeks ago.
The question now centered entirely on Pico's decision. Would she continue with her campaign despite the transformed strategic landscape? Would she yield and accept terms, retreating back to Shadowfen's original boundaries? Would her pride allow her to acknowledge that this conquest had become untenable?
Or would she make one final desperate push, committing everything she had in an all-or-nothing assault that would determine the fate of both forests?
The answer would come within days. Both sides could feel it, the tension building toward the inevitable climax. The extended truce couldn't last forever. Eventually, either peace would be negotiated or war would resume with even greater intensity than before.
August stood on the newly reinforced walls, watching the forest and thinking about everything that had changed. They had been on the verge of defeat, facing annihilation against impossible odds. Now they had fortifications that would make a proper city envious, the personal protection of one of the empire's greatest warriors, and reinforcements arriving that would significantly bolster their combat power.
But he couldn't shake the feeling that Pico wouldn't retreat peacefully. She had invested too much, lost too much, sacrificed too much of her pride. Creatures like her didn't accept defeat gracefully. They either simply won or they have to destroy everything in their path trying to win.
The final battle was coming. And this time, it would truly be final. One way or another, this war would end.
The only question was how many would survive to see that ending.