Armet didn't remember much of what he said that night, only that he now woke up in his workshop with a heavy headache and the urge to throw up every minute or so. Right now, he's trying to set up his alchemy kit so he could brew himself a hangover cure. But before he could do that, a knock came from the door, making Armet let out a small sigh, before opening to see who's knocking.
Outside, he saw Cecil and Yarpen, standing rather seriously, waiting.
"Bloody hell, lad, ye smell like shite," Yarpen groaned. "Did ye bathe in alcohol or somethin'?"
"Urgh, went on a drinking run last night with Skalen." said Armet, massaging his head.
"Haha!" Yarpen laughed. "Havin' a taste o' the local cuisine, are we?"
"...What do you need Mr. Zigrin?"
"It's Saskia. She's callin' ye now," Yarpen said, a bit more serious.
Armet instantly perked up, a bit of his hungover disappearing. "Right now? This early?"
"What d'ye mean this early, ye lazy arse prick!? It's way past noon!" Cecil said angrily. "Ye can't go t' Saskia lookin' an' smellin' like shite! Go! Make yerself presentable!"
"Alright, alright…" Armet muttered. "Give me a moment."
Armet closed the door in front of the two dwarves' faces, making them grunt in annoyance. After almost half an hour, the door opened again, with Armet looking fresher, and less smelly than before. Though, the smell is still there, just masked with perfume.
"Took yer time, didn't ye?" Cecil scoffed. "Now let's go. We've made Saskia wait long enough."
Armet was just about to follow them, but stopped abruptly. The expression on his face shows that he had remembered something.
"Wait. I have one more thing." he said, entering his workshop again and grabbing something. When he went outside, the two dwarves saw a necklace on his hand, which he wore as the group walked forward.
"What was that necklace?" Cecil asked. "It looks expensive."
"I know dimeritium when I see one," Yarpen scoffed. "How'd ye know there's a mage in the council?"
"The dwarves in the tavern are talkative." said Armet, making up an excuse. "It's just you two, Saskia, the sorceress, and a couple other nobles in the war council, correct?"
"Aye," Cecil said. "The sorceress is helpful for our cause, lad. Ye need not be scared o' her."
Armet scoffed. "I'm sorry Cecil, I've no prejudice against dwarves, elves, gnomes, or even trolls. But mages, I've every right to be."
"I don't blame ye," Yarpen muttered. "Philippa Eilhart's one hell o' a sorceress."
"Ah, yes, Phillipa Eilhart. Even more reason for me to be wary…" Armet murmured, a bit displeased.
"What? Ye know her?" Cecil asked.
"I've a bit of history with her. I doubt she remembered it though." Armet said.
The group continued to walk the streets of Vergen, through the Rhundurin Square, towards the southernmost part of the city. There, they arrived at the Castle of Three Fathers, a multilevel complex that is more a labyrinth in the mountain than an actual castle. They entered the building and approached the war council room.
"Do keep in mind me advice last time we met, lad," Yarpen said. "Be polite. No need t' be aggressive or dismissive."
"I'm sorry, Yarpen, but I'm about to meet a woman who preaches about equality." Armet said. "That's what she will get. Equal treatment. I'll talk to her like I talk to you."
"Then that's fine," Yarpen nodded. "I've shown her yer weapon. She approves, she knows there's merit t' yer claim. Ye just need t' answer questions here."
"We've arrived. Stop talkin'," Cecil grunted. He stopped just at the double doors and opened them himself. The smell of feminine perfume entered Armet's nostrils. It definitely wasn't from Saskia, but from the other woman in the room.
The group entered, and inside, a round table had been set up. Armet stood in front of it, and on the opposite side where he stood, Saskia sat. besides her was the sorceress, Phillipa Eilhart herself. And around them, a couple other nobles. Yarpen and Cecil took a seat, while Armet still stood.
"Saskia. My lady. My lords. This here's the engineer who made the weapon from yesterday," Cecil said.
"So it is you. The boy from Oxenfurt." Phillipa said. "The redhead's little lover."
"You remembered." Armet simply said. "That is nice of you, sorceress."
"How is she doing these days? Or are you two still fighting like children?" she asked again.
Armet merely smiled. "Alive and well."
"It seems you two know each other. But onto the current matters." Saskia spoke out. She pulled Armet's firearm that he gave to Yarpen, and placed it on the table. "You were the one who made this, correct?"
"That is correct, Miss Saskia." Armet hummed.
Saskia nodded in approval. "What is its name?"
"I haven't decided on it yet. But Skalen, Cecil's nephew, calls it a thunderer."
"A worthy name. Then I shall call it that. Though, I do have my concerns." Saskia said. "This weapon might be easy to train, and can penetrate even a knight's armour. But I must ask, it takes a long time to load, why do you think it will be effective in a battle? What makes you think they wouldn't be decimated by a group of longbowmen that are faster to shoot, and from the looks of it, have more range."
"You are correct, Miss Saskia. But the role of these weapons isn't to replace longbows in a conventional battlefield." Armet said. "They're to be protected, and to hold a line to inflict morale damage against the charging enemy. With proper training, while it takes long to load, you can train fifty men to shoot ten at a time, with the other forty reloading. That way, there's a constant barrage of noise and volley of lead bullets, and even the most courageous men will falter under that."
"But the entire point of your weapon is that it's quick on training." One noble said. "Now you said they need more training time."
"A peasant can be trained on shooting it in just a day. But you must train their discipline, with that you need a week, or two, at the very least." Armet explained. "I may not have been to a battlefield, my lord, but I imagined it's chaotic, and scared peasants that aren't disciplined can't focus on reloading."
"On that you are right." Saskia said.
"Your work is similar to that of a colleague of mine, in the name of Ortolan." stated Phillipa. "He's dead now, but his inventions lived on. He made a bullet thrower that can throw many rounds per minute, unlike your weapon."
"Ortolan's weapon used magic. Telekinesis. Something that peasants couldn't do. Mine used a modified Zerrakanian powder." Armet stated. "I could make a weapon like that. Using an even more modified powder and a more sophisticated bullet. But our current capabilities of production limits us doing that. So we stick with normal round bullets for now. And before you ask, yes, I got the inspiration from that."
Saskia asked another question. "What about if the infantry reaches the thunderers? How will they fight?"
"Well, longbowmen can be slaughtered if they're in the same position as well." Armet said. "But we can modify the weapon so that a long dagger can be attached to the end, to make it act like a spear, another form of weapon that is easy to train peasants with. It will be a separate accessory, though, so as to not disturb the accuracy of the weapon. Like a ring attachment."
"Is that doable to produce, Cecil?" asked Saskia.
"Aye, so long as he shows me the diagram," Cecil nodded.
"That is good. Then we shall start to produce it." Saskia said.
Armet raised his brow. "Now? Miss Saskia?"
"We are out of time." Saskia said. "...Right, I don't know your name yet."
"It's Armet. Armet of Vergen." answered the man.
"Of Vergen? You're native here?"
"Cecil didn't tell you, Miss Saskia?" Armet said. "I was raised by him. It's just that I went to Oxenfurt to pursue education."
"It appears you took out important information from me, Cecil." Saskia sighed.
Cecil scratched his beard. "I didn't think it were important. He's his own man now, Saskia."
"No matter." Saskia said. "Like I said, we are out of time. Prince Stennis marches on here, and while he said that he's come here to parley and bring news, there's a small chance he'll do otherwise. And now we heard whispers from the merchants from the north that King Henselt is readying to march against us. To take Upper Aedirn once more."
"Is that wise to tell him that?" a noble asked.
Saskia raised her hand to silence them. "You seemed like a capable man in terms of engineering, you created this weapon after all. And now that I heard that this is your hometown, what is your feeling about it?"
"Feeling?"
"What would you do if Kaedwin intended to take over this city by marching here with an army to besiege?" said Saskia. "Or what would you do if Aedirn herself wants to sack this place in retaliation for a rebellion?"
"Oh, I see where this is going… you should just say it straight to the point, Miss Saskia."Armet muttered. "I'll defend it, of course. And fine, I'll support your cause. But I will be honest. My coins reserve are getting thinner by the day. And I need payment."
Saskia chuckled. "In here, people will get their due. Aside from this weapon, I want to make a request. Have you taken a look at the city in its current state?"
"Some have changed. Some haven't." Armet said. "I know it well enough."
"Then good. Do you think you can make a weapon that could make defending this city on a siege much easier?" she asked.
Armet chuckled. "You're asking me that? I'll do you one better. I'll change the course of how battles are fought forever. I'll make you a weapon that would rival a mage's fireball in the battlefield. A weapon that could perform similar performance to that of the mages of Sodden, if not in terms of morale damage."
"Bold claim." Phillipa said.
"If what you said is true, then I'll be glad to wait on the result." Saskia said. "You can talk to Yarpen for all things military, and Cecil for all things civil. I'm sure they'll be happy to help you."
Cecil sighed. "We might be a well-off city, but we don't have endless coin, lad, so do be careful wi' yer request."
"Also, you're granted a seat here, temporarily, as chief military engineer, in the face of upcoming turmoil." Saskia said. "I want a report on the progress of what you're doing weekly. I have put my trust in you, Armet of Vergen, to defend this city. And possibly a lot of coins. Do well to hold it."
Armet nodded. "I will. Then what is your situation, Miss Saskia, in terms of men?"
Saskia didn't say anything, and just turned to Yarpen.
"We have two hundred dwarves. They shouldn't be counted as mere peasants. They're well-trained. Veterans of Brenna and the Dyfne."
"Three hundred peasants will come, including the one from here," said one of the nobles. "If we are to face a siege… that's not much."
"We can work with that." Armet nodded. "Can you call your peasants now, my lord? So that they could train as soon as possible and familiarize themselves with the weapon. And if I could request, I want some to be pulled from the crowd for separate training, a group of people that could do mathematics is preferable."
"I could gather them. But your request, you have to do it yourself." the noble said.
"That is fine." Armet said. He turned to Saskia again. "We'll only arm the peasants with the new weapon, and maybe some dwarves."
"Do be careful on spending. Like Cecil said, we do not have infinite coins." Saskia said.
Armet merely nodded. "Then I shall excuse myself, Miss Saskia."
—
Armet, Yarpen, and Cecil are now gathered inside Armet's own workshop. Armet is searching for his weapon's diagram in his chest. He got it, and spread it open on the table.
"Here, the diagram." Armet said, pointing at the drawing. The group gathered around. "I made the design have interchangeable parts, so it should be easy to produce separately. How many do you think a factory of yours could make?"
"They're not used t' it, an' we'll need a lot o' molds for this. At first, probably twenty a week, an' low quality at that," Cecil scratched his beard. "But a few weeks after, they'll be more efficient. Fifty, maybe seventy pieces."
"Good. I'll check on the first batch myself. As for the siege weapons, I'll talk to you tomorrow, but I want you to gather the best metallurgists you have in this city."
"I can do that." Cecil nodded.
"Ah, right. The powder? The bullets?" Armet said. "Do you think you can buy the ingredients in bulk?"
"Mahakam might sell it cheap fer us. I'll see what I can do," Cecil said. "I asked around yesterday. Lead's cheap, about two orens per pound in Mahakam. But it's heavy t' transport and toxic, but it should be no problem. We've ways t' deal wi' it."
"I don't want to burden this city's finances more than it already is, old dwarf." Armet said. "How heavy do you think this would take a toll?"
"Making the thunderers? Not much. We were previously makin' crossbows. An' from the looks o' it, it's much easier t' make. Like I said, we just need t' make a lot o' moulds. With crossbows, artisans're needed. With this, while they're still needed, it's not as intensive as makin' a crossbow, especially due t' the way ye designed it. An' iron ore's cheap here, a mark per ten pounds. We've a whole mine for that. The hardest thing is prob'ly the wooden parts," Cecil said.
"But the powder… it's goin' t' take a toll. While coal's cheap due t' the mines, saltpeter's are not, round about twelve orens per pound in Mahakam. Still, it should be fine. We're in dire need o' defence. It's either this, or bein' conquered by Kaedwen," he added.
Armet shook his head in pity. "Alright, I can't do much on that. I'll be honest, we're going to need a lot of powder. Especially for the weapon that I'm about to make."
"Just do what she tells ye, lad. If she's satisfied an' it proves effective in battle, then it's worth it." Cecil muttered, "Our food supplies'll be hit once the peasants arrive, I'll have t' deal wi' that too, but the lands of Upper Aedirn are among the most fertile in the North, so I reckon we'll have no problem. But ye best train 'em well, Yarpen."
"Aye, I'll see to that." Yarpen nodded.
"Other than training them on shooting, train them on making a line as well." Armet said. "You heard what I said back in the war council?"
"Fifty men in each division. Ten in front shoot, while the rest reload. I reckon it's either the front goes t' the back, or the back comes t' the front, dependin' on what we're doin'," Yarpen said. He nodded. "I'll see t' it."
"Train them on the pressure of war as well." Armet said. "Don't go too hard on them, but when you tell them to load and shoot, you scream at them, make noises, even shoot crossbows at around them, so they get used to it."
"Hah! Tha' will be fun!" Yarpen laughed.
Armet sighed. "I guess that's it. I'll get to work on the other weapon as well."
"Settle down, lad, have a rest a little. I know ye want t' prove yourself, but there's no need t' rush," Cecil said.
"We kind of need to rush, Cecil. We might be getting besieged in the next few months."
"Well, ye're right on that, but still," Cecil said. "Speakin' of, what d'ye think o' Saskia so far?"
"Saskia, I don't have much of an impression on her, apart from the fact that she's quite good at speaking." Armet said. "Her circle of advisors however…"
"What of it?" Yarpen said.
"It's a bit hypocritical." Armet said. "She spoke of equality. But she surrounds herself with nobles and sorceresses, the epitome of privilege."
"She has us too, remember?" Cecil raised his brow.
"Still…" Armet muttered. "What is she planning with this rebellion of hers? What's going to be the structure of the state after it gets recognized?"
Yarpen snorted. "That she'll be queen, what else?"
Armet sighed. "Again, quite hypocritical. She talks about equality, but she wants to be queen? A woman who rules in absolute power. She might be fair in rule once she ascends, but she'll not live forever. Will you not have a voice in the future government of this state if it's run by an absolute monarch? How will you stop her descendants to turn back on its founding principles and become prejudiced against nonhumans once more? She is human, after all, her descendants will be human too."
Yarpen frowned. "Do ye doubt her?"
"Stop pretending you don't have doubts. You heard me, don't you ignore everything I said." Armet said. "I just came here a few days ago, and even I can already see the cracks."
Yarpen's gaze softened. "Aye… it's true. I had me doubts, I won't lie."
Cecil sighed. "Harsh words, aye, but… I see the merit in your concern."
"You should tell her then." Armet said, turning around to take a parchment to start drawing. "In my honest opinion, I would rather much prefer using the method on how dwarves pick their Elder-in-Chief back at Mahakam, with the council of clans replaced with the council of races or something similar to that. That would be much more in line with her ideology. Though the bickering between the races will be abysmal to hear. But… At the end of the day, that is not my business, at least as of yet. I'm only a hired engineer. It's her business, and everyone that trusted her in running this rebellion."
Yarpen crossed his arms. "Why keep it to yourself, lad? When you first met her, you could've spoken plain. Saskia's no stranger to critics, she doesn't spit on 'em."
Armet chuckled. "You warned me multiple times about not offending her publicly in any way. True, she's probably not prone to spit on critics. But what of her followers?"
"Eurgh, can't argue with that." Yarpen scoffed. "Alright, enough political bollocks. I'll see the peasants' arrival. I have a few contacts back at Mahakam, and see if they can help you with your production."
"Contacts?" Armet raised his brow.
"I'm a bailiff of Mahakam, a vice-elder you could say." Yarpen said. "And uh, me clan's a bit influential."
"Didn't know you were such an important dwarf." Armet said.
"I am not. Just a war veteran." Yarpen scoffed.
"I'll see to this contact of yours about the purchases," Cecil nodded. "Then I'll set up the powder mills for the Zerrakanian Powder. I'll warn you lad, the mills will take a long time until it can be operational, needed some special equipment for it. So for now, you should make it manually."
"Alright, thanks." Armet nodded, not turning around to see the two dwarves leave, as he already focused on his drawings at hand.
—
The next day, Armet stood inside the foundry, where the heat is almost unbearable to some. He could see actual lava pouring from channels in the corner of the room, leading to the many foundries of the place. Around him were a bunch of dwarves, their beards long and dirty, clearly old and experienced. They were looking at him with scrutiny.
"So ye want us makin' bells now?" one of the dwarves asked, raising a brow.
"No, I'm asking if you have experience casting bells." Armet said. "Because in order to make this weapon, we need the knowledge of that."
"Who d'ye take us for, lad? A pack o' green apprentices?" one of the dwarves scoffed. "'Course we know how tae cast bells."
"Not the small ones. The giant ones."
"Aye, we know how tae." grumbled another dwarf. "We forged th' bells o' Vergen an' Tiel. They came runnin' tae us when they cracked."
"Then that's great. Please excuse me for asking your qualifications, because this weapon is going to take some effort on thinking. Speaking of which, I need your opinion on what to use and what to add."
Armet walked to the nearest table, and spread open the diagram that he had drawn yesterday. The group of metallurgists looked upon it, some were confused.
"And what am I lookin' at, then?"
"I'm sure you've already heard about the new weapon that is currently being produced in the factories next door." Armet said. "This is… a bigger application of that concept. With scaling that bigger, the explosion must be bigger as well to make the balls fly. The problem is if you do not find a material or a design that is strong enough, the powder will just likely explode the weapon rather than actually working. So I came to you. Do you think iron would be enough? Or do you think we should use other materials? Keep in mind the cost as well, though."
"If there's one thing I've learned o'er the years, it's that it's fine tae fail an' try again next time," a dwarf said. "I'd say we should just gie it a go. We can reinforce these 'bells' wi' rings an' caps as well."
"Aye, I agree on that." another dwarf nodded.
"But we don't have time." Armet said. "And the cost… It's going to be large."
"Hah, we're workin' fer free either way, lad," a dwarf snorted. "Anythin' tae keep that milk-drinker Stennis off our walls."
"Stennis?" Armet muttered. "Ah, right."
He forgot that people don't know yet, that Kaedwen will be the most likely to attack rather than Prince Stennis.
"So you'll work on this?" Armet asked, turning to the diagram again.
A dwarf grabbed the diagram and squinted at it. "We'll need tae make some tweaks t' this drawin', but aye, we can work on it. Wrought iron it'll be, an' we'll set caps an' rings on it. Just like ye said, same way we make the bells."
"How long do you think it'll take before we can do a field test?" Armet asked again.
"Hard tae say, lad. Bell-makin's a long process," the dwarf grumbled. "Week an' a half, maybe two. Most o' that's lettin' the cast cool proper."
Armet frowned, not fast enough, but he can't do anything about that. "Alright. I'll wait patiently then. Oh, right, how heavy is the ball, do you think that could fit in the barrel?"
The dwarf scratched his beard. "Hmm… in yer diagram the width o' the barrel's six inches, so if we shave it down a wee bit, an' if the projectile's iron as well, then maybe twenty t' twenty-six pounds, dependin' on the quality o' the iron."
"That's good." Armet hummed. "Can you make them as well? For the field test. I'll try to make the necessary powder for it."
The dwarf nodded. "Aye. That'll be easier than this."
Armet sighed. "Then good luck on your work."
—
In the afternoon, Armet stood at the walls of the city with Cecil, overseeing a bunch of dwarfs and humans alike slowly creating hoardings out of planks and logs. The wall itself is no problem, it's thick enough, though not as high as Armet could've wanted, and they have an outer and inner ring of it. The Mahakam Gate even has this elaborate boiling oil trap in front of it that would instantly cook any group of infantry that's trying to attack the gates. The other thing that is great about it is that the gate is built in between a ravine of rocks, so the only walls they have are facing each other, and the attacker will have to face a hail of bullets from the walls that's surrounding them before they could even touch the gate.
The big weakness of Vergen's walls however is that it doesn't have any stone crenelations, hence, there was no cover for arrows. It would be easy to be slaughtered from the top of the walls due to that, so they quickly worked on building some hoardings, however temporary it might be. This way, even if it rains, the thunderers would still work under the roof of the hoardings.
"What's the situation with the saltpeter?" Armet asked Cecil, watching as dwarves and humans alike pass him by, bringing planks and dragging logs.
"I've already ordered it. The merchant was quite ecstatic for the large order, even offering to give us already processed goods." Cecil scoffed. "He ran off as soon as possible to Mahakam, to chase the Spring Cleaning. Should arrive within the next week and a half. The metals, though, will be a bit longer. The mechanics are already starting to make grinding tools for the powder mills as well. Though again, it'll take a long time until it's truly finished."
"I should be able to do it myself for now." Armet hummed. "Though I have to work day and night for that. Have the peasants arrived yet?"
"No, they just sent the herald to bring them here literally this morning." Cecil answered. "But the peasants here should be on stand-by. Yarpen's already started training them in the weapon. He's familiarizing them with the weapon that you gave him, though a bit shorter than the ones we're making, should be enough for now."
It was then that Armet saw someone climbing the steps to the wall. It was a young woman, wearing black and white, covering her face with a hood. She looked around, examining the entire hoarding. She eventually looked at Armet, it was then that he saw her face, a pretty one. She smiled at him, but eventually turned back on examining the hoarding.
Armet merely frowned, but didn't say anything.
"That's Cynthia. Arrived a few days here just before you." Cecil was the one who spoke. "She got accepted as Lady Phillipa's apprentice. And uh, lover."
"Lover?" Armet chuckled. "How'd you know about that part?"
"They're not exactly quiet about it. They're bloody loud." Cecil scoffed. "The lass rarely talks to anyone, just watches."
Armet hummed. "Just… maybe secretly stop her watching all this. Especially the weapons' manufacturing."
"Why's that? You don't trust Lady Phillipa?" Cecil raised his brow. "The sorceress is not a pleasant woman, I agree, but she's useful in all things magical."
"At the very least, I don't trust her specifically." Armet whispered, subtly pointing at Cynthia.
"Why? She's just an apprentice." Cecil said. "You just looked at her once and you don't trust her? What are you on about?"
"Well, you said it yourself, she came here a few days before me." Armet said. "This is my hometown, but she has no connection here. Where'd she come from?"
"Er… never asked." Cecil muttered.
"And did she come here just to apprentice under Phillipa?" Armet asked again. "If so, how did she even know she's here?"
"Eugh…" Cecil frowned. "Now that you said it, it sounds a bit suspicious. Even so, Lady Phillipa's quite open in advising Saskia, maybe she knew through that."
"Well, can't help but be careful. Especially in our current situation." Armet said.
"Aye. I get what you mean." Cecil nodded. "I'll tell the guards to guard the factories. Let no one in except us and the workers."
Armet hummed. "Please do that. Thanks."